EVERYMAN. 
I-W1LLGO-W1TH 

•THEE. 
&BETHYGV1DE 
•JN  THY  MOST-  NEED' 
ITOGOBY-THY-5JDE 


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IN  TWO  STYLES  OF  BINDING,  CLOTH, 
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LONDON  :  J.  M.  DENT  &  SONS,  LTD. 
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Life  gf  -\ 
HODSON^ 
HOD  SON'S 
HORSE :  BY 
Captain  Lionel 
J  TROTTER 


LONDON:  PUBLISHED 
byJ-M-DENT  ^-SONS-HP 
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BY  E-P-  DUTTON^CO 


INTRODUCTION1 


AMONG  the  men  who  fought  and  bled  in  their  country's 
service  during  the  flood-tide  of  the  Indian  Mutiny,  few 
names  shone  with  a  steadier  and  more  inspiring  lustre 
than  that  of  William  S.  R.  Hodson,  the  prince  of  scout- 
ing officers,  the  bold  and  skilful  leader  of  Hodson's 
Horse.  From  the  middle  of  May  to  the  close  of  Sep- 
tember, 1857,  the  fame  of  his  achievements  rang  daily 
louder  in  the  field  force  which  Barnard  led  from  Karnal 
to  the  siege  of  Delhi.  During  the  next  six  months  he 
contrived  to  add  some  new  and  noteworthy  services  to 
a  record  already  blazing  with  heroic  deeds. 

Dying  as  a  brevet-major  in  the  prime  of  his  strenuous 
manhood,  he  had  already  won  for  himself  a  proud  place 
on  the  honour-lists  of  our  long  island  story.  Hodson's 
claim  to  be  remembered  as  a  great  soldier  has  never 
been  questioned  even  by  the  boldest  assailants  of  his 
moral  rectitude  or  of  his  fitness  for  civil  rule.  It  was 
perhaps  inevitable  that  a  man  of  his  mark  and  character 
should  repel  at  least  as  many  as  he  attracted.  Few 
men,  indeed,  have  had  warmer  friends  or  more  per- 
sistent enemies.  But  the  latter  included  none  of  his 
own  household,  and  very  few  who  could  claim  much 
personal  knowledge  of  the  man  they  misjudged. 

In  writing  about  Hodson,  I  have  tried  to  steer  an 
even  course  between  the  Scylla  of  unqualified  praise  and 
the  Charybdis  of  undeserved  censure.  A  careful  study 
of  Reynell  Taylor's  report, — the  full  text  of  which  will 
be  found  in  the  Appendix, — compared  with  the  evidence 
contained  in  some  of  Hodson's  own  letters,  and  in  the 
statements  volunteered  by  important  witnesses,  has 

1  Original  Preface  to  first  edition  of  1901. 


2021403 


viii  Major  W.  Hodson 

convinced  me  that  nine-tenths  of  the  stories  current  to 
his  discredit  owe  their  prevalence  and  long  vitality  to  a 
widespread  misconception  of  the  causes  which  led  to  his 
removal  from  the  Guides.  Of  the  remaining  tenth  it  is 
enough,  I  think,  to  say  that  they  are  either  absurd 
distortions  of  the  truth  or  conclusions  drawn  from  facts 
about  which  opinions  will  always  differ. 

In  this  volume  I  have  quoted  liberally  from  the 
letters  published  by  the  Rev.  Prebendary  George  H. 
Hodson  in  his  excellent  biography  of  his  illustrious 
brother.  These  letters  are  at  once  so  characteristic  of 
the  writer,  so  full  of  life  and  movement  and  many-sided 
interests,  so  rich  in  terse  and  lively  details  of  note- 
worthy scenes,  incidents,  adventures,  that  I  think  no 
adequate  record  of  his  romantic  career  could  do  without 
them.  In  these  letters  one  sees  the  man  himself  in  all 
his  varied  aspects  and  relations,  from  the  frank,  genial, 
sympathetic  son,  brother,  friend,  and  husband,  to  the 
cool,  clear-headed,  resourceful  soldier,  always  ready  to 
do,  dare,  or  suffer  greatly  in  the  cause  of  manifest  duty ; 
quick  to  take  up  with  a  light  heart  any  task  that  good 
fortune  or  the  public  need  might  offer  to  his  hands,  and 
successful  in  winning  the  unbounded  confidence  and  the 
loving  homage  of  his  Indian  troops.  Happily  for  my 
purpose,  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Hodson  himself  invited  me  to 
make  free  use  of  his  brother's  published  correspondence. 
I  venture  to  think  that  no  intelligent  reader  will  grumble 
at  my  acceptance  of  an  offer  so  generous,  made  by  a 
master  in  his  own  field  of  literary  art. 

For  much  of  the  new  matter  contained  in  this  volume 
my  heartiest  thanks  are  due  to  Miss  Hodson,  who 
supplied  me  with  a  mass  of  papers  bearing  upon  her 
brother's  career.  To  Hodson's  old  schoolfellow  and  life- 
long friend,  the  Rev.  F.  A.  Foster,  I  am  indebted  for 
some  pleasant  reminiscences  of  his  boyhood  and  tor 
several  of  the  letters,  now  published  for  the  first  time. 
Another  of  his  earliest  friends,  Major-General  Charles 
Thomason,  R.E.,  has  favoured  me  with  some  happy 
instances  of  Hodson's  bright,  buoyant,  engaging  per- 
sonality. To  Hodson's  stepson,  Major-General  Reveley 
Mitford,  to  Mr.  W.  S.  Seton-Karr,  and  Mr.  J.  W.  Sherer, 


Introduction  ix 

C.S.I.,  my  thanks  are  also  due  for  some  valuable  addi- 
tions to  the  new  matter  contained  in  this  volume.  The 
usual  references  to  printed  documents  will  be  found  in 
their  proper  places  throughout  the  book. 

L.  J.  T. 


The  following  is  the  list  of  other  works  by  the  same 
author: — 

East  and  West,  and  other  poems,  1859;  Studies  in  Biography, 
1865 ;  History  of  the  British  Empire  in  India  from  the  appointment 
of  Lord  Hardinge  to  the  political  extinction  of  the  East  India 
Company,  1844-1862;  A  Sequel  to  Thornton's  History  of  India,  2 
vols.,  1866;  History  of  India  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  present 
day.  etc.,  1874;  revised  and  enlarged  ed.,  1899;  Warren  Hastings: 
a  biography,  1878;  Lord  Lawrence:  a  sketch  of  his  public  career, 
1880;  History  of  India  under  Queen  Victoria.  From  1836  to  1880, 
2  vols.,  1886;  William  Taylor  of  Patna:  a  brief  account  of  his 
services,  etc.  (brief  extracts  from  letters  received  from  1857  to  1884), 
1887;  Life  of  the  Marquis  of  Dalhousie  (Statesmen  series),  1889; 
Warren  Hastings  (Rulers  of  India  series),  1890;  Earl  of  Auckland 
(Rulers  of  India  series),  1893;  The  Life  of  John  Nicholson,  Soldier 
and  Administrator,  1897;  gth  edition,  1904;  in  Nelson's  Shilling 
Library,  1908;  A  Leader  of  Light  Horse:  Life  of  Hodson  of  Hodson's 
Horse,  1901;  The  Bayard  of  India:  A  Life  of  General  Sir  James 
Outram,  Bart.,  1903. 

TRANSLATIONS  :  I;  Michelet's  La  Sorciere,  1863;  J.  J.  L.  Blanc's 
Lettres  sur  PAngleterre,  2nd  series,  1867. 

Editor  of  Allen's  Indian  Mail  from  1867-1878,  and  contributor 
to  various  journals  and  magazines. 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  BIRTH  AND  PARENTAGE — EARLY  TRAINING — SCHOOL 

LIFE  AT  RUGBY     ......  i 

II.  FROM  CAMBRIDGE  TO  GUERNSEY  AND  TORQUAY     .  12 

III.  THE  FIRST  SIKH  WAR            .....  16 

IV.  FROM  SABATHU  TO  KASHMIR          ....  27 
V.  "  FRESH  WOODS  AND  PASTURES  NEW  "          .          .  38 

VI.  THE  OUTBREAK  AT  MULTAN,  AND  AFTER        .          .  46 

VII.  THE  SECOND  SIKH  WAR 58 

VIII.  FROM  SOLDIER  TO  CIVILIAN            ....  75 

IX.  FROM  KASHMIR  TO  KUSSOWLIE      ....  86 

X.  MARRIAGE  AND  PROMOTION  TO  THE  COMMAND  OF  THE 

GUIDES           .......  97 

XI.  UNDER  A  CLOUD           ......  114 

XII.  WAITING  FOR  BETTER  TIMES         .         .         .         .129 

XIII.  THE  GREAT  MUTINY— FIRST  WEEKS  OF  THE  SIEGE  OF 

DELHI  .          .          .          .          .          .          .143 

XIV.  THE  SIEGE  OF  DELHI 163 

XV.  BEFORE  DELHI     .          .          .          .          .                    .  179 

XVI.  THE  STORMING  OF  DELHI      .....  193 

XVII.  FROM  DELHI  TO  UMBALA      .....  210 

XVIII.  FROM  UMBALA  TO  FATHIGARH        ....  221 

XIX.  FROM  FATHIGARH  TO  CAWNPORE   .         .         .         .  234 

XX.  LAST  SCENE  OF  ALL      ......  245 

XXI.  CONCLUSION          .......  257 

APPENDIX 269 

INDEX 3or 


TO 

LILY  WARING  TROTTER, 

THIS   BOOK,  WHICH,   BUT   FOR   HER   ACTIVE   AND 

PATIENT   COLLABORATION,   COULD   NOT   HAVE 

BEEN   WRITTEN,   IS   DEDICATED   BY 

HER  GRATEFUL  FATHER 


MAJOR    W.    HODSON 


CHAPTER  I 

BIRTH   AND    PARENTAGE — EARLY   TRAINING — SCHOOL   LIFE 
AT   RUGBY.      1821-1840 

WILLIAM  STEPHEN  RAIKES  HODSON,  the  subject  of  this 
memoir,  was  born  on  the  igth  of  March  1821  at  Maisemore 
Court,  in  a  village  near  the  Severn,  about  two  miles  to 
the  north  of  Gloucester.  In  a  family  of  eight  children, 
he  was  the  third  son  of  the  Rev.  George  Hodson,  after- 
wards Archdeacon  of  Stafford  and  Canon  of  Lichfield,  who 
was  then  residing  at  Maisemore  Court  in  order  to  be  near 
the  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  to  whom  he  was  chaplain,  and 
taking  private  pupils.  The  Rev.  George  Hodson's  mother, 
Miss  Hewitt,  was  sister-in-law  to  Archdeacon  Paley,  the 
well-known  author  of  Evidences  of  Christianity. 

William  Hodson's  father  came  of  a  family  which  had 
long  been  settled  in  the  north  of  England.  The  father 
himself  had  entered  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  where  he 
took  his  degree  in  1810  as  seventh  Wrangler  and  second 
Chancellor's  Medallist.  He  was  shortly  afterwards  elected 
as  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Magdalen  College.  He  married 
Mary  Stephen,  niece  of  James  Stephen,  the  eminent 
Master  in  Chancery,  the  friend  of  Wilberforce  and 
Macaulay,  and  the  head  of  a  family  conspicuous  through- 
out the  century  at  the  Bar,  on  the  Bench,  in  Council, 
and  in  various  fields  of  literary  achievement. 

Young  Master  Willie  was  blessed  with  a  bright  and 
joyous  nature  and  an  affectionate  disposition,  which  en- 
deared him  not  only  to  his  own  family  but  to  all  around 
him  of  whatever  degree.  "  That  which  characterised 
him  most,"  writes  his  elder  brother,  the  Rev.  George  H. 
Hodson,  "  was  his  quickness  of  observation  and  his  h> 


2  Major  W.  Hodson 

terest  in  everything  going  on  about  him.  By  living  with 
his  eyes  and  ears  open,  and  never  suffering  anything  to 
escape  his  notice,  he  acquired  a  stock  of  practical  know- 
ledge which  he  turned  to  good  account  in  his  after-life."  l 
With  his  frank  blue  eyes,  shapely  features,  his  yellow 
hair  and  slim  well-knit  figure,  he  must  have  been  a 
beautiful  as  well  as  a  charming  boy.  No  wonder  that,  in 
the  words  of  Miss  Sibella  Hodson, "  his  father  was  wrapped 
up  in  him,  and  we  all  thought  him  fascinating."  If  his 
manner  as  a  boy  towards  other  boys  was  sometimes  rough 
and  masterful,  he  had  ever  a  soft  place  in  his  heart  for 
girls  and  women.  His  mother,  at  any  rate,  was  not 
afraid  to  entrust  him  at  need  with  the  sole  companionship 
of  her  youngest  daughter,  a  trust  which  he  never  failed 
tenderly  and  loyally  to  fulfil. 

"  He  was  always,"  writes  Miss  Hodson,  "  very  neat 
and  tidy  in  his  dress  and  appearance,  and  he  was  very 
handy.  His  handwriting,  too,  was  always  clear  and 
beautiful;  never  a  blot  or  erasure,  even  in  the  stress  of 
active  service.  .  .  .  Owing  to  the  severe  headaches 
from  which  he  suffered,  and  which  made  study  often  hard 
work  for  him,  and  kept  him  at  times  from  school,  I  used 
to  be  his  playfellow,"  an  arrangement  which  she  never 
found  cause  to  regret,  even  when  her  playmate  insisted 
on  teaching  her  the  broadsword  exercise. 

During  William's  early  boyhood  his  studies,  on  account 
of  the  headaches  aforesaid,  were  pursued  at  home  under 
the  direction  of  his  excellent  father,  except  for  the  short 
period  when  the  Rev.  E.  Harland  acted  as  his  private 
tutor.  "  Home  life,  however,"  says  Mr.  George  H. 
Hodson,  "  had  not  prevented  him  from  growing  up  an 
active  high-spirited  boy,  full  of  life  and  energy."  Nor 
had  his  peculiar  ailments  prevented  his  nimble  intellect 
from  imbibing  a  fair  amount  of  such  knowledge  as  boys 
of  his  age  are  expected  to  acquire.  Whatever  else  the 
boy  of  fourteen  may  have  failed  to  learn,  he  had  at  least 
received  the  spiritual  training  of  a  nature  nutrita  faustis 
sub  penetralibus — a  nature  fed  upon  the  best  traditions  of 
a  pure  English  home. 

1  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse.  By  the  Rev.  George  H.  Hodson, 
M.A.,  etc.  Revised  editioa.  1889. 


Early  Training  3 

In  the  early  part  of  1837  young  Hodson  was  sent  to 
school  at  Rugby,  then  famous  for  the  reforming  rule  of 
its  headmaster,  the  wise  and  learned  Dr.  Arnold,  whose 
name  has  long  been  a  household  word  with  all  readers  of 
Torn  Brown's  School-days,  and  the  Life  by  Dean  Stanley. 
And  here  I  cannot  do  better  than  quote  the  following 
pertinent  memoranda  which  have  been  kindly  furnished 
me  by  Hodson's  schoolfellow,  Mr.  W.  S.  Seton-Karr, 
sometime  judge  in  the  High  Court  of  Calcutta,  and  after- 
wards Foreign  Secretary  to  the  Government  of  India  in 
1868-69:— 

"  Hodson,  when  he  came  to  Rugby,  was  older  than  any 
of  his  contemporaries  of  that  year;  most  of  them  were 
of  the  age  of  twelve  to  fourteen.  He  was  placed  in  the 
Middle  Fifth,  and  thus  escaped  fagging  altogether,  and 
passing  through  the  Fifth  Form  and  the  '  Twenty,'  as  it 
was  then  termed,  reached  the  Sixth  Form  under  Arnold 
during  1839  and  1840.  Hodson  was  not  a  deep  or  brilliant 
scholar,  and  he  was  no  proficient  in  Latin  verse,  on  which 
Arnold,  after  some  hesitation,  had  by  that  time  begun 
to  set  a  high  value,  as  may  be  seen  in  Dean  Stanley's 
Biography.  But  he  had  read  the  best  Greek  and  Latin 
authors,  and  his  construing  was  correct  and  even  elegant; 
while  in  general  knowledge  of  the  world  he  always  struck 
us  as  superior  to  the  average  of  clever  scholars  of  the  same 
age.  He  had  a  store  of  anecdotes  about  public  men,  the 
universities,  and  their  Dons ;  and  we  used  to  look  to  him 
more  than  to  other  contemporaries  for  information  and 
enlightenment  on  matters  beyond  the  reach  and  range  of 
average  schoolboy  life. 

"  Hodson  was  no  cricketer,  and  never  even  in  the 
Twenty-two;  but  he  was  an  excellent  runner,  and  led 
the  others  at  hare-and-hounds,  or  paper  chases,  which 
came  off  at  least  once  a-week  in  the  winter  and  spring, 
when  the  claims  of  football  were  not  paramount.  His 
wind  and  endurance  in  the  Crick  and  the  Barby  Hill  runs 
were  often  the  admiration  and  envy  of  the  school. 

"  Although  athletics — with  the  exception  of  cricket, 
football,  and  '  Bigside-leaping  ' — were  not  so  extensively 
practised,  nor  held  in  the  same  esteem,  as  they  are  at  the 
present  day,  Hodson  was  one  of  the  committee  for  con- 


4  Major  W.  Hodson 

verting  the  island  into  a  sort  of  gymnasium,  with  swings, 
parallel  bars,  and  other  mechanical  contrivances;  and  he 
won  great  renown  by  winning  a  single  wager  which  de- 
pended on  three  distinct  events : — 

1.  He  was  to  run  eight  miles  in  the  hour. 

2.  To  run  a  mile  in  five  minutes. 

3.  To  pick  up  100  stones,  placed  one  yard  apart,  within 

the  hour. 

If  he  failed  in  any  one  of  these  feats  he  was  to  forfeit  his 
stake.  He  accomplished  them  on  the  Tuesday,  Thursday, 
and  Saturday,  half-holidays,  in  one  week. 

"  I  witnessed  the  performance  on  two  occasions.  The 
eight  miles  were  run  on  the  Barby  Road,  and  part 
of  the  way  against  a  cold  head  wind.  He  had  some 
minutes  to  spare,  and  did  the  eight  miles  with  hardly  a 
pause. 

"  I  was  not  present  when  he  ran  the  mile,  but  I  under- 
stood that  he  was  ten  or  fifteen  seconds  within  time.  On 
the  third  occasion  the  stones  were  laid  in  the  Close,  along 
the  path  which  leads  from  the  head-master's  garden  to 
what  was  then  the  Rev.  C.  A.  Anstey's.  The  event  came 
off  after  3  P.M.  '  calling  over,'  before  a  crowd  of  boys,  and 
I  distinctly  remember  our  tutor,  Bonamy  Price,  looking 
on  with  wonder  and  approval.  Hodson  began  by  picking 
up  all  the  distant  stones  first;  and  occasionally  took  a 
few  between  twenty  and  thirty  yards  from  the  starting- 
point.  He  kept  the  half-dozen  nearest  to  the  starting- 
point  for  the  last,  and  picked  them  up  rapidly,  winning 
his  wager  with  several  minutes  to  spare. 

"  Doubtless,  in  the  present  day,  the  above  record  has 
been  beaten,  and  the  same  number  of  stones  has  been 
picked  up  in  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  and  even  less,  by 
those  whom  Dr.  Arnold  might  have  designated  as  jortemque 
Cyan,  fortemque  Cloanthum.  But  Hodson's  feat,  in  the 
'Thirties,  was  thought  a  great  achievement. 

"  Hodson  was  a  good  disciplinarian,  and  could  keep  the 
fags  in  order.  At  the  end  of  1839  it  happened  that  the 
captain,  or  head  of  Cotton's  house,  was  unequal  to  the 
task  of  ruling  some  rather  overgrown  fellows  who  were  in 
the  Lower  Forms.  So,  after  due  consultation,  Arnold 
resolved  on  transferring  Hodson  from  Price's  to  Cotton's 


School  Life  at  Rugby  5 

house  with  his  master's  approval.  The  '  Doctor  '  always 
set  a  value  on  physical  strength  and  determination  as 
useful  adjuncts  to  scholarship,  and  he  was  well  aware  of 
the  importance  of  '  muscular  Christianity  '  in  its  proper 
place,  in  support  of  brains.  Hodson's  friends  and  col- 
leagues at  Price's  were  sorry  to  lose  him;  but  there  was 
no  more  trouble  or  turbulence  at  Cotton's  when  Hodson 
had  cleared  the  way.  I  left  Rugby  at  midsummer  1840, 
while  Hodson  stayed  till  '  Lawrence  Sheriff,'  or  Founder's 
day,  in  October." 

The  under-master  with  whom  young  Hodson  first 
resided  was  the  Rev.  Bonamy  Price,  who  had  been  one 
of  Mr.  Hodson's  pupils  at  Maisemore  Court.  Among 
William  Hodson's  younger  schoolfellows  was  another  boy, 
who  afterwards  became  a  distinguished  member  of  the 
Indian  Civil  Service,  Mr.  John  Walter  Sherer,  C.S.I.,  who 
has  favoured  me  with  some  pleasant  reminiscences  of  his 
former  schoolfellow,  which  illustrates  the  subject  of  them 
from  another  point  of  view: — 

"  I  was  at  Rugby  with  William,  but  did  not  at  first 
know  him;  he  was  two  or  three  years  older  than  myself, 
for  one  thing.  .  .  .  The  prepositor  in  my  house  (Powlett's, 
afterwards  Cotton's)  was  F.  Gell  (afterwards  Bishop  of 
Madras),  and  when  he  went  to  Cambridge,  Hodson  was 
induced  to  migrate  to  us.  I  being  in  a  Form  not  above 
fagging,  became  principal  fag  to  Hodson,  and  had  to  clean 
his  study,  make  his  coffee,  and  boil  his  eggs.  Of  course  he 
was  in  the  Sixth,  where  it  became  an  honour  to  have 
studied  under  Arnold.  Willie  Hodson  used  to  refer  to  his 
pupilage  with  pride.  But  he  was  never  really  an  Arnold 
man — I  mean  as  was  Stanley  (Dean  of  Westminster),  Tom 
Hughes,  or  Seton-Karr.  He  was  rather  an  isolated  boy ; 
for  though  a  great  athlete,  he  did  not  play  much  at  cricket 
or  football,  and  was  rather  given  to  hare-and-hounds,  long 
runs  in  the  country,  jumps  over  hedges,  and  so  on.  Occa- 
sionally he  gave  an  exhibition  in  the  Close  (our  '  playing- 
field  ')  of  picking  up  stones  at  distances  within  a  certain 
time.  He  went  in  for  dumb-bells  and  other  contrivances 
for  strengthening  the  figure,  and  he  was  a  very  powerful 
well-shaped  youth.  Tall  rather  than  otherwise,  with  a 
fresh  though  rather  pale  face  and  yellow  hair,  and  large 


6  Major  W.  Hodson 

dark-grey  or  dark-blue  eyes,  which  were  a  little  stern  and 
unforgiving  in  expression. 

"  He  was  always  rather  bothered  with  heat,  and  re- 
quired water  for  his  head;  and  quite  early  would  be  at 
the  pump  half  stripped  and  sousing  his  yellow  locks.  He 
was  not  popular,  perhaps — because,  being  fond  of  long 
runs,  he  followed  in  a  measure  his  own  fancies.  He  was 
known  to  be  clever  and  fond  of  reading,  but  took  no  prizes. 
As  a  fag's  master  he  was  strict,  but  took  his  fag's  part,  and 
was  not  unreasonable. 

"  We  stayed  on  at  Rugby  till  I  ceased  to  be  a  fag  and 
came  to  know  him  as  a  friend ;  and  after  I  left,  and  he  had 
gone  to  college,  we  met  at  times  at  Leamington." 

Another  schoolfellow,  Mr.  Thomas  Arnold,  has  also 
written  of  William  Hodson  in  his  Passages  from  a  Wander- 
ing Life  :  "  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse,  who  boarded  at 
Price's  house,  was  in  the  Sixth  Form  at  the  same  time  with 
me.  He  had  a  remarkable  face,  his  complexion  being 
smooth  and  brilliant  as  that  of  a  girl,  while  his  hair  was 
of  a  bright  golden  yellow.  He  was  tall  and  well  made, 
and  a  first-rate  runner:  if  I  remember  right  he  was  re- 
garded as  the  best  runner  in  the  school.  His  expansive 
and  impulsive  nature  won  him  many  friends,  and  for  my 
own  part  I  always  liked  him  greatly.  His  faults  were 
arrogance,  rashness,  and  a  domineering  temper;  and  if 
one  bears  this  in  mind,  it  is  easy  to  understand  the  errors 
into  which  he  fell  in  India." 

How  far  Hodson's  health  interfered  at  times  with  his 
regular  school  work  may  be  gathered  from  a  letter  written 
to  his  father  by  Dr.  Arnold  in  December  1839 :  "  My  report 
of  your  son's  progress  has  been  completely  deranged  by  the 
state  of  his  health,  which  not  only  hindered  him  from 
doing  anything  at  all  at  his  examination,  but  prevented 
him  from  doing  his  regular  compositions  during  a  great 
part  of  the  half  year,  and  affected,  I  have  no  doubt,  his 
work  generally.  There  was  a  peculiar  inconvenience  in 
this,  because  as  exercise  was  recommended  to  him  strongly, 
he  took  an  active  part  in  all  the  school  amusements,  so 
that  his  health  seemed  to  interfere  with  nothing  but  his 
work;  and  though  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the 
case  was  really  so, — that  he  could  not  read  or  compose, 


School  Life  at  Rugby  7 

and  that  it  did  him  good  to  play  at  football, — yet  the 
example  to  the  school  was  very  apt  to  be  misunderstood, 
and  I  think  that  you  will  agree  with  me  that  it  would  be 
better  for  him  not  to  return  to  Rugby  till  his  health  is 
fully  re-established.  I  say  this,  hoping  most  sincerely 
that  he  may  be  well  enough  to  return  immediately  after 
the  holidays ;  for  what  I  saw  of  his  conduct  last  half  year 
in  one  or  two  important  instances  pleased  me  much,  and 
I  think  that  his  character  and  influence  would  act  more 
and  more  beneficially  on  the  school  with  every  half  year  of 
added  age." 

On  the  strength  of  this  letter  young  Hodson's  Christmas 
holidays  were  extended  into  the  spring  of  1840.  On  his 
return  to  Rugby  he  took  up  the  post  which  Arnold  had 
already  designed  for  him,  in  the  house  of  a  new  master, 
the  Rev.  G.  E.  Cotton,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Calcutta. 
How  loyally  he  discharged  the  duties  of  his  new  and  some- 
what trying  office  the  following  letter  from  Bishop  Cotton 
will  show: — 

"May  18,  1858. 

"  You  are  aware  that  your  brother  was  my  pupil  at 
Rugby  for  a  very  short  time.  He  was  originally  at  Price's 
house,  but  at  the  beginning  of  1840  I  succeeded  to  a  house 
in  which  there  were  no  prepositors.  To  remedy  this  want 
Dr.  Arnold  arranged,  with  Price's  consent,  that  your 
brother  should  be  transferred  to  my  house,  partly  because 
from  my  intimacy  with  you  at  Cambridge  I  had  naturally 
made  his  acquaintance,  and  partly  because  from  his 
energetic  character  and  practical  ability  he  was  likely  to 
give  efficient  help  to  a  new  master  beginning  the  manage- 
ment of  a  house. 

"  Unfortunately  at  the  time  that  he  ought  to  have 
joined  me  he  was  taken  ill,  and  did  not  return  to  Rugby 
till  a  large  portion  of  the  half  year  was  past,  and  as  he  left 
it  for  Cambridge  in  the  following  October,  my  immediate 
connection  with  him  was  brief.  But  it  was  long  enough 
to  give  abundant  proof  that  Arnold's  choice  had  been  a 
wise  one.  I  remember  quite  well  that  soon  after  he  came 
he  made  several  sensible  suggestions  as  to  the  arrange- 
ments of  the  house,  which  after  two  months  or  more  of 


8  Major  W.  Hodson 

freedom  from  the  authority  of  the  Sixth  had  probably 
become  somewhat  anarchical.  But  the  great  point  to  be 
noticed  was,  that  though  he  immediately  re-established 
the  shattered  prestige  of  prepositorial  power,  he  contrived 
to  make  himself  very  popular  with  various  classes  of  boys. 
The  younger  boys  found  in  him  an  efficient  protector 
against  bullying.  Those  of  a  more  literary  turn  (amongst 
others  one  of  the  present  Professors  at  Oxford)  found  in 
him  an  agreeable  and  intelligent  companion,  and  were 
proud  of  being  admitted  to  sit  in  his  study  and  talk  on 
matters  of  intellectual  interest.  Those  who  were  anxious 
that  their  house  should  take  a  good  position  in  the  school 
were  glad  to  see  a  leading  member  of  the  Sixth  Form  at 
its  head,  and  helping  it  to  rise  to  greater  importance.  The 
Democrats  got  their  master,  and  submitted  with  a  good 
grace  to  power  which  they  could  not  resist,  and  which  was 
judiciously  and  moderately  exercised.  The  regime  was 
wise,  firm,  and  kind,  and  the  house  was  happy  and  pros- 
perous. In  my  private  relations  with  him  I  always  found 
him  very  pleasant,  and  quite  able  to  reconcile  with  real 
tact  his  position  as  a  private  friend  with  his  relation  as 
the  highest  pupil  and  head  of  the  house  to  a  young  master 
entering  on  his  work.  From  all  that  I  knew  of  him,  both 
at  Rugby  and  afterwards,  I  was  not  surprised  at  the 
courage  and  coolness  which  the  Times  compared  to  '  the 
spirit  of  a  paladin  of  old.'  I  cannot  say  how  much  I 
regret  that  I  shall  not  be  welcomed  in  India  by  the  first 
head  of  my  dear  old  home  at  Rugby." 

In  June  1840  Dr.  Arnold  writes  again  to  Hodson's 
father  to  express  his  entire  satisfaction  with  the  good 
results  which  had  followed  Hodson's  return  to  Rugby. 
"  I  sincerely  hope,"  he  adds,  "  that  he  will  be  able  to 
return  to  us  again  after  the  holidays." 

"  '  Who  does  not  remember,'  says  a  writer  in  the  Book 
of  Rugby  School,  '  the  fair-haired,  light-complexioned, 
active  man,  whose  running  feats,  whether  in  the  open 
fields  or  on  the  gravel  walks  of  the  Close,  created  such 
marvel  among  his  contemporaries?  He  has  carried  his 
hare-and-hounds  into  his  country's  service,  and  as  com- 
mandant of  the  gallant  corps  of  Guides  has  displayed  an 
activity  and  courage  on  the  wild  frontier  of  the  Punjab, 


School  Life  at  Rugby  9 

the  natural  development  of  his  early  prowess  at  Crick 
and  Brownsover.'  One  of  Hodson's  schoolfellows,  the 
future  author  of  Tom  Brown's  School-days,  tells  us  how 
at  the  first  calling  over  he  used  to  come  in  splashed  and 
hot,  with  his  cheery,  '  Old  fellow !  I've  been  to  Brinklow 
since  dinner.'  From  the  same  writer  we  learn  '  that  as  a 
boy  he  was  not  remarkable  for  physical  strength  or  courage, 
and  none  of  us  would  have  foretold  that  he  would  become 
one  of  the  most  daring  and  successful  swordsmen  in  the 
Indian  army.'  " 1 

The  sort  of  courage  for  which  William  Hodson  was  not 
remarkable  may  be  inferred  from  the  following  passage  in 
a  letter  addressed  to  me  by  another  old  Rugbeian,  who 
afterwards  won  his  laurels  in  the  Indian  Civil  Service. 
"  I  recollect,"  says  my  informant,  "  that  some  years  ago, 
when  Tom  Hughes,  the  author  of  Tom  Brown's  School-days, 
was  staying  with  me  here  for  a  few  days,  we  had  a  good 
deal  of  talk  about  William  Hodson,  among  other  of  our 
contemporaries  at  Rugby.  I  then  found  that  Tom  Hughes, 
like  myself,  had  been  a  good  deal  surprised  at  the  reputa- 
tion which  Hodson  had  achieved  as  a  gallant  and  dashing 
soldier.  The  impression  which  both  of  us  had  formed  of 
him  as  a  schoolboy  had  not  at  all  prepared  us  for  the  feats 
which  he  accomplished  in  after-life.  We  could  neither  of 
us  call  to  mind  having  ever  seen  him  in  the  thick  of  a 
scrimmage  at  football.  He  was  generally  hovering  outside 
on  these  occasions,  looking  out  probably  for  the  chance  of 
running  with  the  ball." 

It  seems  clear  that  Hodson's  courage  was  naturally  cool 
and  circumspect — the  courage,  let  us  say,  of  Ulysses  rather 
than  the  headlong  fury  of  Ajax  or  Achilles.  Having  no 
great  love  of  fighting  for  fighting's  sake,  he  never  threw 
himself  into  the  rough-and-tumble  of  a  football  scrim- 
mage; nor  did  his  soul  yearn  for  the  joy  of  shedding  or 
losing  blood  in  hard  disfiguring  duels  with  the  clenched 
fist. 

From  other  accounts  it  appears  that "  larky  Prichard,"  2 

1  Eraser's  Magazine,  February  1859. 

'"He  was  called  by  us  Prichard,"  writes  Mr.  Seton-Karr, 
"  because  he  came  to  Price's  after  a  boy  named  Prichard  had  just 
left,  who  resembled  Hodson  only  in  the  colour  of  his  red  hair." 


io  Major  W.  Hodson 

as  he  was  called,  would  lead  the  way  in  a  game  of  hare-and- 
hounds,  "  with  his  nice  easy  stride,  for  he  never  had  any 
great  pace,1  though  he  could  last  for  ever,  and  would  get 
back  coolly  and  comfortably  to  '  Bons '  when  the  rear 
hounds  were  toiling  a  mile  behind."  It  will  be  seen  that 
on  the  question  of  pace  opinions  appear  to  differ,  but  it  is 
certain  at  least  that  Hodson  was  endowed  with  marvellous 
staying  power. 

In  some  of  his  holiday  rambles  about  the  pretty  Stafford- 
shire village  of  Colwich,  where  his  father  was  then  vicar, 
Hodson  was  accompanied  by  his  friend  and  schoolfellow 
Fred.  Foster,  afterwards  the  Rev.  F.  A.  Foster,  with  whom 
Hodson  was  to  keep  up  an  intimate  correspondence  during 
his  Indian  career.  On  one  of  these  occasions  the  two- 
young  athletes  set  out  on  a  three  days'  walk  in  Stafford- 
shire and  Derbyshire. 

"  So  far  as  my  memory  serves  me,"  writes  Mr.  Foster, 
"  we  went  to  Matlock  Bath,  as  we  certainly  did  to  Ash- 
bourne  and  Dovedale.  I  well  remember  at  the  latter 
place,  as  we  came  down  a  steep  slope  to  our  quarters  for 
the  night,  at  the  little  inn,  the  Isaac  Walton,  we  laughed 
together  at  our  many  tumbles!  Certainly  God  took 
care  of  us,  for  on  visiting  the  spot  in  the  morning  we 
agreed  that  we  should  scarcely  like  to  come  down  it  in 
broad  daylight. 

"  One  morning  we  missed  our  way,  and  found  that  we 
had  walked  just  twenty  miles  before  breakfast.  We  asked 
the  waiter  at  the  hotel  what  he  could  give  us  for  our  break- 
fast. He  mentioned  a  long  list  of  various  eatables,  and  I 
was  amused  by  Hodson  quietly  saying,  '  Very  well,  bring 
them  all  in.' 

"  Our  longest  walk,  of  quite  fifty  miles,  was  on  a 
Saturday,  and  about  n  P.M.  I  said  to  Hodson,  '  I  very 
much  fear  your  father,'  the  Archdeacon  of  Stafford,  with 
whom  I  was  staying,  '  will  sit  up  in  his  study  till  he  sees 
us,  and  we  are  within  an  hour  of  Sunday  morning.'  So 
we  agreed  to  run,  and  did  so  at  full  speed  for  the  last  six 
miles,  being  in  capital  condition,  and  found  when  we 

1 "  He  could  run  at  any  rate  one  mile  in  five  minutes,"  says  Mr. 
Seton-Karr. 


School  Life  at  Rugby  1 1 

reached  Colwich  Vicarage  that  the  good  old  archdeacon 
was  in  his  study  awaiting  our  arrival." 

With  this  feat  of  youthful  endurance  the  present  chapter 
may  come  to  a  fitting  close.  The  evidence  here  collected 
will  serve  at  least  to  show  what  sort  of  character  W.  Hodson 
left  behind  him  when  he  quitted  Rugby  for  Cambridge  in 
the  autumn  of  1840. 


CHAPTER  II 

FROM   CAMBRIDGE  TO   GUERNSEY  AND  TORQUAY. 
1840-1845 

IN  October  1840,  William  Hodson  entered  on  his  first  term 
of  residence  at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  where  his 
second  brother,  afterwards  the  Rev.  George  H.  Hodson, 
Fellow  of  Trinity  and  Vicar  of  Enfield,  had  taken  his 
degree  a  few  months  earlier.  "  Here,"  says  the  Rev. 
G.  H.  Hodson,  "  as  might  have  been  expected  from  his 
previous  habits,  he  took  an  active  interest  in  boating  and 
other  athletic  amusements,  while  at  the  same  time  he  by 
no  means  neglected  the  more  serious  and  intellectual 
pursuits  of  the  university.  He  had  a  very  considerable 
acquaintance  with,  and  taste  for,  both  classical  and  general 
literature;  but  a  constitutional  tendency  to  headache  very 
much  stood  in  the  way  of  any  close  application  to  books, 
and  after  he  had  taken  his  degree  in  1844,  was  one  strong 
reason  for  his  deciding  on  an  active  rather  than  a  studious 
life."  i 

The  new  undergraduate  had  for  his  tutor  the  Rev.  J.  W. 
Blakesley,  a  Fellow  of  Trinity  and  afterwards  Dean  of 
Lincoln,  who  was  soon  to  make  his  mark  among  scholarly 
English  exponents  of  Greek  and  Latin  classics.  Writing 
on  March  31, 1841,  to  Hodson's  father,  Mr.  Blakesley  takes 
occasion  to  express  "  the  pleasure  which  I  received  from 
hearing  that,  although  not  successful  in  his  late  contest 
for  the  Bell  Scholarship,  he  was  among  the  very  first  of 
the  candidates,  and  produced  a  very  strong  impression 
in  his  favour. 

"  From  the  opportunities  I  have  had  of  forming  a 

judgment  as  to  his  attainments,  I  feel  that  his  friends  will 

t>e  quite  justified  in  expecting  from  him,  should  his  health 

(as  I  trust  it  will)  hold,  a  distinguished  university  career; 

and  I  have,  moreover,  no  fear  that  in  his  case,  as  some- 

1  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse. 

12 


Cambridge  to  Guernsey  i  3 

times  unfortunately  happens,  intellectual  attainments  will 
be  unaccompanied  by  moral  habits." 

One  of  Hodson's  college  friends  was  Mr.  G.  Chance, 
afterwards  a  police  magistrate  in  London,  who  has  kindly 
favoured  me  with  a  few  reminiscences  of  Hodson's  life  at 
Cambridge. 

"  It  seems  only  a  few  years/'  he  writes,  "  since  we  were 
at  Cambridge  together.  He  was  a  genial  and  excellent 
companion,  and  beloved  by  his  friends.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  2nd  Trinity  Boat  Club,  and  pulled,  I  think,  No.  3. 
in  the  first  boat,  of  which  I  was  stroke.  He  and  I  on  one 
occasion  rowed  a  pair-oar  match  against  his  cousin  William 
Atkinson  and  the  late  Sir  M.  Thompson,  chairman  of  the 
Midland  Railway  Company,  in  which  we  won.  He  was 
remarkable  for  his  activity :  some  of  us  used  to  scour  the 
country,  leaping  gates  and  ditches,  and  in  these  feats  of 
agility  he  and  F.  Strickland,  another  Rugbeian,  were  pre- 
eminent. I  in  common  with  every  one  else  followed  his 
splendid  achievements  in  India  with  admiration,  and  I 
would  have  gladly  welcomed  him  home  had  he  been  spared. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  William  Hodson  became 
acquainted  with  two  boys,  the  sons  of  his  father's  old  pupil 
James  Thomason,  who  was  already  coming  to  the  front 
in  the  Civil  Service  of  the  East  India  Company.  The 
boys  were  spending  their  holidays  under  the  archdeacon's 
hospitable  roof  at  Colwich. 

"  And  happy  holidays  they  were,"  writes  General 
Charles  Thomason,  the  younger  of  the  two  sons.  "  It 
was  there  in  the  early  'Forties  that  I  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  William  Hodson,  who  speedily  raised  himself  to 
the  rank  of  hero  in  my  boyish  imagination.  He  was 
always  so  cheery  that  no  boy  could  have  resisted  him. 

"  He  enjoyed  above  all  things  coaching  me  up  in  glean- 
ings from  Pickwick,  which  at  his  call  I  occasionally  recited 
to  an  admiring  audience.  '  Away  with  melancholy,  as 
the  little  boy  said  when  his  schoolmistress  died,'  was  a 
favourite  one,  and  knowing  him  as  well  in  after-years  as 
I  did,  I  often  thought  of  '  away  with  melancholy  '  as  his 
natural  motto.  It  was  in  the  Mutiny  days  that  we  were 
destined  to  meet  again." l 

1  MS.  Reminiscences  by  General  C.  Thomason. 


14  Major  W.  Hodson 

It  appears  that  during  his  residence  at  Cambridge 
Hodson  had  at  one  time  thought  of  studying  for  the  Bar. 
But  the  state  of  his  health  conspired  with  his  earlier  pre- 
dilections to  turn  his  thoughts  into  less  pacific  channels. 
A  cadetship  in  the  East  India  Company's  service  offered 
many  attractions  to  young  men  of  soldierly  instincts  and 
moderate  wealth.  It  meant,  for  one  thing,  a  sure  provision 
for  life,  with  the  prospect  of  liberal  rewards  for  tried 
capacity  in  various  fields.  There  was,  of  course,  a  fixed 
age-limit  to  all  such  appointments,  and  that  limit  Hodson 
had  nearly  overstepped  when  he  took  his  B.A.  degree  in 
the  spring  of  1844.  He  might  still,  however,  attain  his 
heart's  desire  by  passing  through  the  doorway  of  a  militia 
regiment. 

Through  the  timely  intervention  of  Lord  de  Saumarez 
his  friends  obtained  for  him  a  commission  in  the  Guernsey 
Militia  from  General  Sir  William  Napier,  then  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  Guernsey.  "  From  the  first,"  writes  Mr.  G.  H. 
Hodson,  "  he  felt  that  the  profession  of  a  soldier  was 
one  that  required  to  be  studied,  and  took  every  oppor- 
tunity of  mastering  its  principles."  To  that  end,  indeed, 
lie  could  hardly  have  studied  under  a  worthier  teacher  than 
the  great  historian  of  the  Peninsular  War. 

On  leaving  Guernsey  in  the  winter  of  1844  Hodson 
took  with  him  the  following  testimonial  from  Sir  William 
Napier:  "  I  not  only  consider  you  fit  to  hold  a  commission 
in  any  service,  but  I  think  you  will  be  an  acquisition  to 
any  service.  Your  education,  your  ability,  your  zeal  to 
make  yourself  acquainted  with  military  matters,  gave  me 
the  greatest  satisfaction  during  your  service  in  the  militia, 
and  I  heartily  wish  you  success  in  your  present  applica- 
tion." General  Napier  also  gave  the  young  soldier  a 
commendatory  letter  to  his  brother  Sir  Charles,  who  was 
now  strenuously  governing  the  province  which  his  arms 
had  lately  wrested  from  the  Amirs  of  Sind.1  How  little 
use  Hodson  made  of  this  letter  we  shall  see  by-and-by. 

On  his  return  to  England  Hodson  duly  presented  himself 
at  the  old  India  House  in  Leadenhall  Street  to  take  the 

1The  victories  of  MiAni  and  Haidarabad  in  1843  had  settled  the 
fate  of  Sind,  and  Sir  Charles  Napier  became  governor  of  the  province 
which  he  had  virtually  conquered. 


Cambridge  to  Guernsey  I  5 

oath  of  allegiance  to  his  new  masters,  and  see  himself 
enrolled  as  a  cadet  of  infantry  on  the  Bengal  establish- 
ment. This  cadetship  he  had  just  obtained  through  the 
good  offices  of  his  father's  friend,  Sir  Robert  Inglis,  who 
gave  young  Hodson  the  preference  over  a  younger  candi- 
date nearly  related  to  himself.  "  The  fact,"  he  wrote, 
"  that  my  cousin  was  sixteen,  and  that  your  son  was 
twenty-three,  decided  me;  the  one  could  wait,  the  other 
could  not;  and  now  that  we  have  had  the  great  gratifica- 
tion of  seeing  your  son,  I  am  more  than  ever  satisfied. 
Lady  Inglis  and  myself  concur  in  thinking  most  favourably 
of  his  appearance  and  manner,  and  augur  all  things  good 
in  reference  to  his  future  life." 

He  then  hastened  to  join  his  family  at  Torquay,  whither 
they  had  gone  for  a  time  on  account  of  his  mother's 
failing  health.  After  some  happy  weeks  spent  among  his 
own  people,  amidst  the  wooded  hills  and  green  pastures 
that  border  the  white  beaches  and  blue  seas  of  South 
Devon,  he  proceeded  in  company  with  his  brother  George 
to  Southampton,  where  he  embarked  on  board  the  Seringa- 
paiam,  the  ship  that  was  to  bear  him  round  the  Cape,  to 
the  scene  of  his  future  achievements  and  early  death. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   FIRST  SIKH   WAR.      1845-1846 

AFTER  a  somewhat  stormy  voyage  of  about  three  months, 
remarkable  chiefly  for  the  death  of  his  favourite  little  dog,1 
and  utilised  by  himself  in  the  reading  of  many  books  and 
gaining  some  little  knowledge  of  Hindustani,  William 
Hodson  landed  at  Calcutta  on  August  20,  1845.  At 
Madras  a  few  weeks  earlier  he  had  been  kindly  received 
by  the  governor  and  his  family,  with  whom  he  spent  some 
pleasant  days,  in  spite  of  the  weather  and  a  touch  of  illness. 
"  It  is  hot  enough,  certainly,"  he  writes  home;  "  but  this 
house  is  delightful,  and  the  people  very  kind.  Their 
house  being  full,  I  sleep  in  a  large  tent  pitched  on  the 
lawn  or  compound  outside,  which  is  both  pleasant  and 
cool."  He  was  "  much  disappointed  with  the  natives.  I 
fancied  them  a  much  finer  race.  At  a  distance  they  are 
picturesque  enough,  but  they  are  not  contrived  for  a  near 
view." 

The  climate  of  Calcutta  he  found  "very  trying:  hot 
rains  and  close  stifling  weather,  which  reduces  one's 
strength  terribly."  Sir  Lawrence  Peel,  Archdeacon 
Dealtry,  John  Peter  Grant,  Frederick  Currie,  and  Sir 
Herbert  Maddock  were  among  the  acquaintances  whom 
he  then  made.  Two  happy  days  of  September  were  spent 
by  him  at  Garden  Reach,  in  the  house  of  his  new  friend 
Sir  Lawrence  Peel,  then  Chief  Justice  of  Bengal.  Hodson 
justly  speaks  of  him  as  "  a  thoroughly  nice  agreeable 
man,"  and  feels  "  quite  a  different  animal  after  two  days 
spent  in  comfort  and  comparative  freedom  from  heat." 

After  three  weeks  spent  in  the  city  of  palaces  Hodson 
began  his  voyage  by  steamer  up  the  country  towards  Agra, 
then  the  capital  of  the  North-West  Provinces.  Here  on 

1The  poor  little  creature  had  been  shut  up  during  a  gale,  and 
afterwards  fell  into  convulsions  from  excess  of  joy  at  seeing  its 
master  again. 

16 


The  First  Sikh  War  17 

October  18  he  became  the  guest  of  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  James  Thomason,  an  old  family  friend  and 
connection,  "  who  from  that  time  to  his  death/'  says 
Mr.  George  H.  Hodson,  "  treated  him  with  as  much 
affection,  and  took  as  deep  an  interest  in  his  career,  as 
if  he  had  been  his  own  son." 

At  this  time  Sir  Henry  Hardinge  was  Governor-General 
of  India,  and  Sir  Hugh  Gough,  the  conqueror  of  the 
Gwalior  Marathas,  was  his  Commander-in-Chief.  The 
clouds  were  even  then  lowering  along  the  Satlaj,  and 
troops  were  preparing  to  march  from  various  stations 
towards  the  point  of  possible  danger.  Before  leaving 
Calcutta  Ensign  Hodson  had  been  appointed  to  do  duty 
with  the  2nd  Bengal  Grenadiers,  a  native  regiment  which 
was  presently  to  form  part  of  the  Governor-General's 
escort  from  Agra  to  Ferozepore.  "  Nothing,"  he  writes, 
"  was  ever  so  kind  as  Mr.  Thomason  has  been.  ...  He 
is  certainly  a  most  delightful  man,  and  his  affectionate 
manner  to  me  is  quite  touching.  He  has  just  given  me 
a  horse  for  the  march,  and  seems  bent  on  making  me 
comfortable."  On  November  2,  he  left  Thomason's 
hospitable  roof,  to  become  ere  long  an  actor  in  one  of  the 
bloodiest  wars  recorded  in  Indian  history. 

In  spite  of  the  delay  caused  by  a  sudden  attack  of  fever 
and  dysentery,  he  gained  the  headquarters'  camp  near 
Delhi  on  the  morning  of  the  7th.  His  first  experiences  of 
a  cold-weather  march  with  troops  in  Northern  India  are 
described  so  vividly  in  one  of  his  own  letters  that  no  excuse 
is  needed  for  reproducing  the  description  here: — 

"  Soon  after  4  A.M.  a  bugle  sounds  the  reveille,  and  the 
whole  mass  is  astir  at  once.  The  smoke  of  the  evening 
fires  has  by  this  time  blown  away,  and  everything  stands 
out  clear  and  defined  in  the  bright  moonlight.  The 
sepoys,  too,  bring  the  straw  from  their  tents,  and  make 
fires  to  warm  their  black  faces  on  all  sides ;  and  the  groups 
of  swarthy  redcoats  stooping  over  the  blaze,  with  a  white 
background  of  canvas,  and  the  dark  clear  sky  behind  all, 
produce  a  most  picturesque  effect  as  one  turns  out  into 
the  cold.  Then  the  multitudes  of  camels,  horses,  and 
elephants,  in  all  imaginable  groups  and  positions,  the 
groans  and  cries  of  the  former  as  they  stoop  and  kneel 


1 8  Major  W.  Hodson 

for  their  burdens,  the  neighing  of  hundreds  of  horses 
mingling  with  the  shouts  of  the  innumerable  servants  and 
their  masters'  calls,  the  bleating  of  sheep  and  goats,  and, 
louder  than  all,  the  shrill  screams  of  the  Hindoo  women, 
almost  bewilder  one's  senses  as  one  treads  one's  way 
through  the  canvas  streets  and  squares  to  the  place  where 
the  regiment  assembles  outside  the  camp. 

"  A  second  bugle  sounds  '  the  assembly.'  There  is  a 
blaze  of  torches  from  the  Governor's  tents;  his  palanquin 
carriage,  drawn  by  four  mules  and  escorted  by  jingling 
troopers,  trots  to  the  front.  The  artillery  thunder  forth 
the  morning  gun  as  a  signal  that  the  great  man  is  gone, 
the  guns  rattle  by,  the  cavalry  push  on  after  them,  and 
then  at  length  our  band  strikes  up.  '  Forward  '  is  the 
word,  and  the  red  (and  black)  column  moves  along,  by 
this  time  as  completely  obscured  by  the  dense  clouds  of 
dust  as  though  they  were  in  London  during  a  November 
fog.  We  are  not  expected  to  remain  with  our  men,  but 
mount  at  once  and  ride  in  a  cluster  before  the  band,  or 
ride  on  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or  so  in  twos  and  threes,  com- 
plaining of  the  laziness  of  the  great  man's  people  and  of 
the  dust  and  cold,  as  if  we  were  the  most  ill-used  of  her 
Majesty's  subjects.  As  soon  as  we're  off  the  ground,  and 
the  road  pretty  clear,  I  dismount  and  walk  the  first  eight 
miles  or  so,  this  being  the  time  to  recover  one's  powers  of 
locomotion.  The  cold  is  really  very  great,  especially  in 
the  hour  before  sunrise — generally  about  one  and  a  half 
or  two  hours  after  we  start.  It  soon  gets  warm  enough 
to  make  one  glad  to  ride  again,  and  by  the  time  the  march 
is  over,  and  the  white  city  is  in  sight,  the  heat  is  very 
great,  though  now  diminishing  daily.  It  is  a  sudden 
change  of  temperature,  truly,  from  near  freezing  at  start- 
ing to  90°  or  100°  at  arriving;  and  it  is  this,  I  think,  which 
makes  us  feel  the  heat  so  much  in  this  climate.  In  the 
daytime  we  get  on  very  well,  the  heat  seldom  exceeding 
86°,  and  often  not  more  than  84°  and  82°  in  tents.  It 
sounds  hot,  but  a  house  or  tent  at  84°  is  tolerably  en- 
durable, especially  if  there  is  a  breeze.  My  tent  is  twelve 
feet  square  inside,  and  contains  a  low  pallet-bed,  a  table, 
chair,  two  camel  trunks,  and  brass  basin  for  washing.  I 
will  get  a  sketch  of  the  camp  to  send  you. 


The  First  Sikh  War  1 9 

"  Nov.  18. — This  nomad  life  is  agreeable  in  many 
respects,  and  very  healthy,  and  one  sees  a  great  deal  of 
the  country ;  but  it  destroys  time  rather,  as  the  march  is 
not  over  generally  till  half-past  nine  or  ten,  and  then 
breakfast,  a  most  eagerly  desired  composition,  and  dress- 
ing afterwards,  do  not  leave  much  of  the  day  before  the 
cool  evening  comes  for  exercise,  or  sight-seeing  and 
dining,  and  by  nine  most  of  us  are  in  bed  or  near  it." 

By  December  2,  the  Governor-General  had  pitched  his 
camp  near  Umbala,  where  a  large  portion  of  Cough's 
army  was  already  mustering  for  its  march  towards  the 
frontier:  Hodson  got  leave  to  ride  on  and  see  the  troops 
assemble  to  greet  the  Governor-General.  "  I  never  saw," 
he  wrote,  "  so  splendid  a  sight:  12,000  of  the  finest  troops 
were  drawn  up  in  one  line,  and  as  I  rode  slowly  along  the 
whole  front,  I  had  an  excellent  opportunity  of  examining 
the  varied  materials  of  an  Indian  army.  First  were  the 
English  Horse  Artillery,  then  the  dashing  dragoons  of  the 
3rd  Queen's,  most  splendidly  mounted  and  appointed; 
then  came  the  stern  determined-looking  British  footmen 
side  by  side  with  their  tall  and  swarthy  brethren  from 
the  Ganges  and  Jumna — the  Hindoo,  the  Mussulman,  and 
the  white  man,  all  obeying  the  same  word  and  acknow- 
ledging the  same  common  tie ;  next  to  these  a  large  brigade 
of  guns,  with  a  mixture  of  all  colours  and  creeds;  then 
more  regiments  of  foot,  the  whole  closed  up  by  the 
regiments  of  native  cavalry;  the  quiet  -  looking  and 
English  -  dressed  Hindoo  troopers  strangely  contrasted 
with  the  wild  irregulars  in  all  the  fanciful  wn-uniformity 
of  their  native  costume:  yet  these  last  are  the  men  I 
fancy  for  service.  Altogether,  it  was  a  most  interesting 
sight,  either  to  the  historian  or  soldier,  especially  as  one 
remembered  that  these  were  no  men  of  parade,  but 
assembled  here  to  be  poured  across  the  Satlaj  at  a  word." 

After  the  death  of  Ranjit  Singh,  the  Lion  of  the  Punjab, 
in  1839,  the  kingdom  he  had  founded  by  force  or  fraud 
between  the  Sulaiman  Hills  and  the  Satlaj  speedily  became 
a  prey  to  all  the  evils  that  spring  from  incapable  rulers 
and  a  disciplined  soldiery  conscious  of  its  own  strength, 
and  bound  together  by  the  heritage  of  a  common  creed. 
The  Sikh  army  of  the  Khalsa,  or  "  Chosen,"  combined  the 


20  Major  W.  Hodson 

religious  fervour  of  Cromwell's  Ironsides  with  the  military 
pride  and  restlessness  of  Roman  praetorians  or  Turkish 
janissaries.  This  army  had  become  a  terror  to  their 
nominal  masters  at  Lahore,  who  made  a  show  of  govern- 
ing the  Punjab  on  behalf  of  its  child  sovereign,  Dhulip 
Singh. 

Thousands  of  these  soldiers  were  encamped  round 
Lahore,  clamouring  for  the  pay  which  a  needy  and  thrift- 
less government  was  quite  unable  to  grant  them.  If  the 
whole  Sikh  army  would  only  march  across  the  Satlaj,  they 
might  count  on  getting  all  they  wanted  from  the  plundered 
cities  of  Hindustan. 

Such  was  the  bait  held  out  to  these  sturdy  rioters  by 
some  of  the  leading  spirits  in  the  Lahore  Darbar,  or 
Council  of  State,  who  hoped  thus  to  rid  themselves  of  a 
formidable  nuisance,  and  at  the  same  time  to  maintain  a 
secret  understanding  with  the  Government  of  India.  In 
due  time  the  bait  took.  On  December  n,  a  great  Sikh 
army,  well  equipped  with  guns,  began  crossing  the  Satlaj 
not  far  from  Ferozepore. 

On  December  15,  the  2nd  Grenadiers  joined  the  main 
army  which  Gough  was  leading  from  Umbala,  by  forced 
marches  towards  the  Satlaj.  "  On  the  i7th,"  writes 
Hodson  to  his  father,  "  we  had  a  march  of  thirty  miles, 
in  the  daytime  too,  with  scanty  food.  On  the  i8th,  after 
a  fasting  march  of  twenty-five  miles,  we  were  summoned, 
at  half-past  four  in  the  afternoon,  to  battle,  which  lasted 
till  long  after  dark."  This  was  the  battle  of  Mudki,  the 
first  of  those  fights  which  taught  us  to  respect  the  prowess 
of  our  Sikh  foes,  and  to  admire  the  stubborn  courage  with 
which  they  fought  their  guns.  Hodson's  regiment  formed 
part  of  Gilbert's  division.  "  Almost  the  first  shot  which 
greeted  our  regiment "  (continues  Hodson),  "  killed  the 
man  standing  by  my  side,  and  instantly  afterwards  I  was 
staggered  by  a  ball  from  a  frightened  sepoy  behind  me 
grazing  my  cheek  and  blackening  my  face  with  the  powder, 
so  close  was  it  to  my  head !  We  were  within  twenty,  and 
at  times  ten,  yards  of  three  guns  blazing  grape  into  us; 
and,  worse  than  all,  the  bushes  with  which  the  whole 
ground  was  covered  were  filled  with  marksmen,  who, 
unseen  by  us,  could  pick  us  off  at  pleasure.  No  efforts 


The  First  Sikh  War  2 1 

could  bring  the  sepoys  forward,  or  half  the  loss  might  have 
been  spared  had  they  rushed  on  with  the  bayonet.  We 
had  three  officers  wounded  out  of  our  small  party,  and 
lost  many  of  the  men.  We  were  bivouacked  on  the  cold 
ground  that  night,  and  remained  under  arms  the  whole 
of  the  following  day." 

Three  days  later  began  at  Firozshah  the  long,  fierce, 
and  changeful  struggle  on  which  for  nearly  two  days  the 
fate  of  India  may  be  said  to  have  hung.  Around  the 
village  of  Firozshah  the  Sikhs  had  for  some  days  been 
intrenching  themselves  in  a  kind  of  oblong  square  a  mile 
long  by  half  a  mile  deep.  More  than  a  hundred  guns, 
light  and  heavy,  defended  a  position  held  by  about 
35,000  men,  of  whom  10,000  were  horse.  Gough's  army, 
strengthened  betimes  by  General  Littler's  contingent 
from  Ferozepore,  numbered  about  17,500  men  supported 
by  sixty -nine  light  field-guns.  It  was  against  the  longest 
face  of  the  Sikh  camp  that  our  troops  were  led  on  the 
afternoon  of  December  21,  over  flat  and  open  ground 
dotted  here  and  there  by  patches  of  low  jungle. 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  2ist,  as  we  rushed  towards  the 
guns,"  writes  Hodson  to  his  father,  "  in  the  most  dense 
dust  and  smoke,  and  under  an  unprecedented  fire  of  grape, 
our  sepoys  again  gave  way  and  broke.  It  was  a  fearful 
crisis,  but  the  bravery  of  the  English  regiments  saved  us. 
The  colonel  (Hamilton),  the  greater  part  of  my  .brother 
officers,  and  myself  were  left  with  the  colours  and  about 
thirty  men  immediately  in  front  of  the  batteries!  Our 
escape  is  most  providential,  and  is,  I  trust,  thankfully 
acknowledged  by  us.  A  ball — from  a  shell,  I  fancy — 
struck  my  leg  below  the  knee,  but  happily  spared  the 
bone,  and  only  inflicted  a  flesh  wound.  I  was  also  knocked 
down  twice — once  by  a  shell  bursting  so  close  to  me  as 
to  kill  the  men  behind  me,  and  once  by  the  explosion  of 
a  magazine  or  mine.  I  am  most  thankful,  indeed,  for 
my  escape  from  death  or  maiming." 

How  the  night  of  the  2ist  was  spent  by  our  tired  and 
famishing  soldiers  Hodson  himself  shall  tell  us.  His  own 
regiment  was  bivouacking  beside  the  Queen's  8oth  Foot, 
an  old  Staffordshire  regiment,  whose  ranks  still  contain 
many  men  from  that  county.  "  It  is  a  splendid  corps," 


22  Major  W.  Hodson 

says  Hodson,  "  well-behaved  in  cantonments,  and  first- 
rate  in  action.  I  lay  between  them  and  the  ist  European 
Bengal  Fusiliers  [his  future  regiment]  on  the  night  of  the 
2ist  of  December,  when  Lord  Hardinge  called  out, '  8oth! 
that  gun  must  be  silenced.'  "  It  was  a  heavy  Sikh  gun, 
which  was  playing  havoc  with  the  troops  of  Gilbert's 
division,  and  the  ist  Europeans  were  ordered  to  support 
their  comrades  of  the  8oth.  "  They  jumped  up,  formed 
into  line,  and  advanced  through  the  black  darkness 
silently  and  firmly:  gradually  we  lost  the  sound  of  their 
tread,  and  anxiously  listened  for  the  slightest  intimation 
of  their  progress.  All  was  still  for  five  minutes,  while  they 
gradually  gained  the  front  of  the  battery  whose  fire  had 
caused  us  so  much  loss.  Suddenly  we  heard  a  dropping 
fire,  a  blaze  of  the  Sikh  cannon  followed,  then  a  thrilling 
cheer  from  the  8oth,  accompanied  by  a  rattling  and 
murderous  volley,  as  they  sprang  upon  the  battery  and 
spiked  the  monster  gun.  In  a  few  more  minutes  they 
moved  back  quietly,  and  lay  down  as  before  in  the  cold 
sand;  but  they  had  left  forty-five  of  their  number,  and 
two  captains,  to  mark  the  scene  of  their  exploit  by  their 
graves." 

Soon  after  daybreak  of  the  22nd,  Gough  and  Hardinge 
— for  the  latter  had  waived  his  right  as  Governor-General 
to  the  chief  command,  and  contented  himself  with  leading 
the  left  wing  of  the  army  of  the  Satlaj — formed  up  their 
shattered  troops  for  the  work  that  still  lay  before  them. 
In  the  teeth  of  a  brisk  cannonade  they  drove  the  enemy 
out  of  the  village  of  Firozshah,  and  before  noon  were 
masters  of  the  whole  intrenched  camp.  But  their  trials 
were  not  yet  over,  for  presently  Tej  Singh  was  seen  in 
the  distance  leading  an  army,  reckoned  at  20,000  men  and 
sixty  guns.  Our  fainting  troops  nerved  themselves  for 
one  supreme  effort,  and  the  cavalry  were  sent  forward 
from  both  flanks.  Our  guns  were  useless  for  want  of 
ammunition.  But  the  Sikh  leader,  for  reasons  best  known 
to  himself,  declined  the  challenge,  and  speedily  withdrew 
towards  the  Satlaj.  The  victory  was  ours  at  last,  but 
dearly  purchased  with  the  loss  of  more  than  2400  men, 
of  whom  nearly  700  died  on  the  field. 

On  the  night  of  the  24th  our  weary  troops  marched  on 


The  First  Sikh  War  23 

to  Sultanpur,  about  five  miles  from  the  scene  of  that 
terrible  carnage.  "  Here,"  says  Hodson,  "  we  got  some 
food,  and  into  our  beds,  after  four  days  and  nights  on 
the  ground,  alternately  tried  with  heat  and  cold,  now 
most  severe  at  night,  and  nothing  but  an  occasional 
mouthful  of  black  native  bread.  I  think,  during  the 
four  days,  all  I  had  to  eat  would  not  compose  half  a 
home  breakfast-loaf,  and  for  a  day  and  night  we  had 
not  even  water:  when  we  did  get  water,  after  driving  the 
enemy  from  their  camp,  it  was  found  to  have  been  spoilt 
with  gunpowder!  It  was  like  eating  Leamington  water, 
but  our  thirst  was  too  great  to  stick  at  trifles."  1 

From  the  same  place  he  writes  on  December  26:  "  We 
are  resting  here  comfortably  again  in  our  tents,  and  had 
a  turkey  for  our  Christmas  dinner  last  night.  The  rest 
is  most  grateful.  We  had  only  nine  hours  in  bed  out  of 
five  nights,  and  then  the  next  four  were  on  the  ground. 
So  you  see  I  have  come  in  for  the  realities  of  a  soldier's 
life  pretty  early  in  my  career;  and  since  I  am  spared, 
it  is  doubtless  a  great  thing  for  me  in  every  way.  There 
never  has  been  anything  like  it  in  India,  and  it  is  not 
often  that  an  action  anywhere  has  lasted  thirty-six  hours 
as  ours  did.  It  is  called  a  succession  of  three  engagements, 
but  the  firing  never  ceased  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 
Infantry  attacking  guns  was  the  order  of  the  day,  and 
the  loss  occasioned  by  such  a  desperate  resort  was  fearful. 

"  How  different,"  he  continues,  "  your  Christmas  week 
will  have  been  from  mine!  This  time  last  year  I  was 
quietly  staying  at  Bisham,  and  now  sleeping  on  the  banks 
of  the  Satlaj,  with  a  sea  of  tents  around  me  for  miles  and 
miles !  The  last  few  days  seem  a  year,  and  I  can  scarcely 
believe  that  I  have  only  been  four  months  in  India,  and 
only  two  with  my  regiment." 

1  In  one  of  his  letters  to  Mr.  Thomason  he  says:  "  I  have  unfor- 
tunately been  ill  ever  since  we  moved  from  the  scene  of  the  action  of 
the  aist  and  22nd  of  December.  All  of  us  have  been  complaining 
more  or  less,  in  consequence,  it  is  supposed,  of  the  horrible  water  we 
found  at  Firozshah.  If  not  actually  poisoned  it  was  at  least 
saturated  with  gunpowder,  and  there  were  animals  found  in  the 
wells.  ...  I  have  been,  however,  confined  to  my  tent  and  bed 
for  eight  or  nine  days  with  violent  dysentery  and  general  cold, 
which  has  settled  down  into  an  obstinate  cough.  I  am  terribly 
pulled  down  at  present,  but  I  trust  before  we  again  commence 
work  I  may  be  fit  to  take  my  place." 


24  Major  W.  Hodson 

About  this  time  Hodson's  anxiety  with  regard  to  his 
mother  was  greatly  relieved  by  the  accounts  that  reached 
him  of  her  improving  health.  "  The  two  last  mails  have 
brought  me  letters  from  herself,  which  is  the  best  possible 
sign  of  increasing  strength."  But  the  seeming  improve- 
ment was  only  a  passing  rally.  About  half  a  year  later, 
while  Hodson  was  staying  with  his  new  friend  and  future 
benefactor,  Colonel  Henry  Lawrence,  his  heart  was 
saddened  by  news  of  his  mother's  death.  It  was  a 
terrible  blow  to  the  son,  who,  in  his  own  words,  "  had 
up  till  the  last  moment  never  allowed  himself  to  doubt 
that  he  should  see  her  again."  No  one,  he  wrote  to  his 
sister,  "  can  understand  the  intenseness  of  hope  until 
they  have  been  separated,  as  I  have,  from  every  one  dear 
to  them.  .  .  .  Even  my  father's  last  letters,  which  I  now 
wonder  did  not  alarm  me  at  the  time,  had  failed  to  convey 
conviction  to  my  mind."  The  blow  seemed  all  the  harder 
to  bear,  as  it  fell  upon  him  while  he  was  staying  at  Simla 
"  in  a  house  full  of  people,"  from  whom  he  had  to  conceal 
his  grief. 

During  the  first  weeks  of  1846,  while  Gough  was  await- 
ing fresh  reinforcements  with  the  heavy  guns  from  Delhi, 
the  Sikhs  lay  idle  on  their  own  side  of  the  Satlaj.  At 
length,  towards  the  end  of  January,  a  strong  Sikh  force, 
under  Ranjor  Singh,  recrossed  the  river  and  threatened 
Ludiana.  On  January  28,  the  victory  of  Aliwal,  skilfully 
won  by  Sir  Harry  Smith,  sent  the  enemy  flying  back 
across  the  Satlaj  with  the  loss  of  fifty-six  guns,  and  relieved 
our  frontier  posts  from  all  present  danger.  Meanwhile 
a  great  Sikh  army  was  busily  intrenching  itself  on  both 
sides  of  the  Satlaj  about  Sobraon  and  Hariki,  and  in 
the  very  face  of  the  line  held  by  Gough. 

When  the  2nd  Grenadiers  were  ordered  off  to  a  post 
some  miles  in  the  rear  of  Cough's  army,  its  place  in  the 
front  was  taken  by  another  sepoy  regiment,  the  i6th 
Grenadiers,  who  had  formed  part  of  Nott's  "  splendid 
infantry  "  at  Kandahar  during  the  first  Afghan  war. 
Into  this  regiment  Ensign  Hodson  was  allowed  to  ex- 
change, "  not  liking  the  notion  of  returning  to  the  rear 
while  an  enemy  was  in  front."  He  joined  his  new 
regiment  on  the  evening  of  February  9.  He  was  just  in 


The  First  Sikh  War  25 

time  to  share  in  the  hard  fighting  and  the  decisive  victory 
of  Sobraon,  which,  on  February  10,  closed  the  first  Sikh 
war.  "  About  three  in  the  morning/'  writes  Hodson  to 
his  father,  "  we  advanced  towards  the  Sikh  intrench- 
ments  along  the  river's  bank.  Our  guns  and  ammunition 
had  all  come  up  a  day  or  two  before,  and  during  the  night 
were  placed  in  position  to  shell  their  camp.  At  day- 
break seventeen  heavy  mortars  and  howitzers,  rockets, 
and  heavy  guns  commenced  a  magnificent  fire  on  their 
position." 

For  the  first  time  in  his  Indian  warfare  the  fiery  old 
commander-in-chief  had  allowed  his  splendid  artillery  to 
try  their  worst  upon  the  foe.  At  half-past  eight  he  let 
his  infantry  go.  "  Sir  R.  Dick's  division  on  the  right, 
and  ours  (Gilbert's)  in  front,  covered  by  our  fire  from  the 
batteries.  On  we  went  as  usual  in  the  teeth  of  a  dreadful 
fire  of  guns  and  musketry,  and  after  a  desperate  struggle 
we  got  within  their  triple  and  quadruple  intrenchments, 
and  then  their  day  of  reckoning  came  indeed.  Driven 
from  trench  to  trench,  and  surrounded  on  all  sides,  they 
retired,  fighting  most  bravely,  to  the  river,  into  which 
they  were  driven  pell-mell,  a  tremendous  fire  of  musketry 
pouring  on  them  from  our  bank,  and  the  Horse  Artillery 
finishing  their  destruction  with  grape.  The  river  is 
literally  choked  with  corpses,  and  their  camp  full  of  dead 
and  dying." 

Hodson  himself  "  had  the  pleasure  of  spiking  two  guns 
which  were  turned  on  us.  Once  more  I  have  escaped,  I 
am  thankful  to  say,  unhurt,  except  that  a  bullet  took  a 
fancy  to  my  little  finger  and  cut  the  skin  off  the  top  of  it 
— a  mere  pin-scratch,  though  it  spoilt  a  buckskin  glove. 
I  am  perfectly  well :  we  cross  in  a  day  or  two,  but  I  fancy 
have  done  with  fighting." 

The  fighting  was  over  for  that  present.  The  Sikh  army 
was  utterly  broken :  all  their  guns,  sixty-seven  in  number, 
a  great  many  standards,  and  a  camp  full  of  warlike  stores, 
had  fallen  into  our  hands.  A  few  days  later  the  fortress 
of  Phil  or,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Satlaj,  opposite 
Ludiana,  surrendered  without  a  shot  to  the  troops  of 
Brigadier  Wheeler.  On  February  13,  Gough  himself  was 
writing  his  despatches  from  Kassur,  and  two  days  later, 


26  Major  W.  Hodson 

at  the  same  place,  the  Sikh  leaders  were  listening  to  the 
terms  on  which  alone  they  might  secure  the  maintenance 
of  the  Sikh  rule  at  Lahore.  On  February  27,  Hodson  writes 
to  his  sister  from  Lahore:  "  On  the  iyth  we  crossed  the 
Satlaj,  and  are  now  encamped  close  to  old  Ranjit  Singh's 
capital,  without  a  shot  having  been  fired  on  this  side  the 
river!  The  war  is  over;  sixty  days  have  seen  the  over- 
throw of  the  Sikh  army,  which,  when  that  period  com- 
menced, marched  from  the  spot  on  which  the  victors  are 
now  encamped,  with  no  fewer  than  100,000  fighting  men, 
now 

"  A  broken  and  a  routed  host, 
Their  standards  gone,  their  leaders  lost." 

So  ends  the  tale  of  the  mightiest  army,  and  the  best 
organised,  which  India  has  seen.  ...  A  campaign  is  a 
wonderful  dispeller  of  false  notions  and  young  imagina- 
tions, and  seems  too  stern  a  hint  to  be  soon  forgotten." l 

1  The  Sikh  loss  at  Sobraon  was  reckoned  at  not  less  than  8000 
killed  and  wounded,  while  Cough's  army,  about  17,000  strong,  lost 
320  officers  and  men  killed  and  2063  wounded.  Gilbert's  division 
suffered  heavily,  losing  6  officers,  5  sergeants,  and  109  men  slain  • 
50  officers,  46  sergeants,  2  trumpeters,  685  privates  wounded. 


CHAPTER  IV 

FROM  SABATHU  TO  KASHMIR.   1846 

A  MILLION  and  a  half  sterling  was  the  fine  which  Sir 
Henry,  now  soon  to  become  Lord  Hardinge,  inflicted  on 
the  Sikh  Government  for  waging  an  unprovoked  war  with 
its  peaceful  neighbour.  But  the  Lahore  Treasury  could 
not  scrape  together  more  than  half  a  million.  Gulab 
Singh,  Rajah  of  Jammu  and  a  leading  member  of  the 
Lahore  Darbar,  offered  to  pay  over  the  remaining  million 
if  Lord  Hardinge  would  recognise  him  as  sovereign  ruler 
of  Kashmir.  His  offer  was  accepted  as  the  easiest  way 
of  replenishing  the  East  India  Company's  exchequer,  and 
of  solving  a  rather  knotty  political  problem.  Out  of  the 
rest  of  Ranjit  Singh's  kingdom  the  Governor-General 
reserved  for  his  master's  own  keeping  the  Jalandhar  Doab, 
the  strip  of  country  lying  between  the  Satlaj  and  the 
Biyas. 

The  intriguing  mother  of  little  Dhulip  Singh  retained 
her  place  at  the  head  of  the  Lahore  Darbar  with  Lai 
Singh  for  her  Wazir.  The  old  Khalsa  army  was  to  be 
cut  down  to  a  third  of  its  former  strength,  and  a  strong 
British  garrison  under  General  Littler  ensured  for  a  time 
the  peace  of  the  Sikh  capital.  Colonel  Henry  Lawrence, 
who  had  been  summoned  from  Nipal  on  the  death  of  the 
gallant  Major  Broadfoot,  was  selected  for  the  post  of 
British  Resident  and  general  adviser  at  the  Lahore  Court. 
Such  were  the  measures  by  which  Lord  Hardinge  hoped 
to  stave  off  for  many  years  the  final  day  of  reckoning 
between  the  Indian  Government  and  the  recognised  rulers 
of  the  Punjab. 

When  the  Governor-General  put  his  seal  to  the  treaty 
of  March  9,  the  hot  weather  was  fast  setting  in,  and  most 
of  the  troops  composing  the  army  of  the  Satlaj  were 
already  hurrying  back  to  their  respective  cantonments. 
Hodson  himself  had  once  more  exchanged  into  the  26th 
27 


28  Major  W.  Hodson 

Sepoys,  with  whom  he  marched  towards  Umbala.  By 
March  26,  the  last  of  the  homeward-bound  regiments  had 
recrossed  the  Satlaj  by  the  noble  bridge  of  boats  which 
our  engineers  had  got  ready.  The  sight  of  the  regiments, 
mostly  European,  filing  across  the  bridge,  struck  Hodson 
with  keen  admiration  of  the  dusty,  travel-stained,  war- 
worn remnants  of  the  troops  who  had  fought  so  doggedly 
at  Firozshah  and  Sobraon.  "  With  that  cool  firm  air  of 
determination  which  is  the  most  marked  characteristic 
of  English  soldiers,  regiment  after  regiment  passed  on, 
cavalry,  artillery,  and  infantry  in  succession,  their  bands 
playing  quick  steps  and  national  tunes  as  each  stepped 
upon  the  bridge.  ...  As  each  regiment  moved  up  on  this 
side  the  river,  our  fine  old  chief  addressed  a  few  words  of 
congratulation  and  praise  to  each;  they  pushed  on  to 
their  tents,  and  a  genuine  English  cheer,  caught  up  and 
repeated  from  corps  to  corps  and  a  thundering  salute 
from  the  artillery,  proclaimed  the  final  dispersion,  and 
bade  an  appropriate  farewell  to  the  army  of  the  Satlaj." 

Writing  to  his  dear  friend,  Mr.  F.  A.  Foster,  on  March 
30,  Hodson  describes  his  own  experiences  of  the  long,, 
hot,  dusty  march  towards  Umbala:  "Be  it  known  to  all 
stayers  at  home  that  writing  a  letter  is  a  very  serious 
business,  indeed,  to  dwellers  in  tents ;  for  besides  the  usual 
interruptions  caused  by  duty  and  marching,  and  the  more 
public  sort  of  existence  one  leads  in  camp,  one  is  exposed 
to  every  vicissitude  of  heat  and  cold  and  wind,  as  if  one 
were  sitting  under  an  umbrella  almost.  I  don't  speak 
of  the  magnificent  houses  of  commanders-in-chief  and 
governor-generals,  but  of  such  small  tents  as  befit  sub- 
alterns, captains,  and  Sir  Charles  Napier!  He  is  content 
with  the  same  accommodation  as  I  am,  but  then  he  really 
is  a  great  man  as  well  as  a  great  soldier,  not  a  little  one 
made  big  by  fortune.  .  .  .  But  the  dust !  No  one  who  has 
not  been  in  the  sandy  plains  of  Upper  India  can  conceive 
what  a  windy  day  brings  with  it.  I  am  wrong  in  calling  it 
sand;  it  is  fine  alluvial  soil  pulverised  by  the  heat  so 
finely  that  it  is  impalpable  to  the  touch,  lying  ankle-deep 
for  miles  and  miles  of  country.  You  may  guess  how  this 
rises  with  the  tramp  of  so  many  thousands  of  men  and 
Jiorses,  and  fills  the  air  so  densely  that  one  can  hardly 


From  Sabathu  to  Kashmir          29 

breathe,  and  one's  eyes  become  blinded  with  accumulated 
filth,  and  the  eyelashes  thickened  and  clotted  with  our 
mother  earth.  On  a  windy  day  this  rushes  into  one's 
tent  and  covers  everything  with  a  blanket  of  earth  as 
effectually  as  snow  does  the  country  at  home.  When  the 
said  wind  becomes  a  hot  one,  as  it  is  rapidly  doing  by  this 
time  of  year,  the  nuisance  is  terribly  aggravated,  and  tents 
become  almost  unbearable — I  might  say  quite,  but  that 
they  must  be  borne.  However,  we  have  had  great  luck 
in  the  weather  ever  since  I  became  a  nomad  and  a  denizen 
of  tents;  and  it  has  so  many  attractions  that  I  like  it 
very  well,  especially  when  anything  is  going  on:  now, 
however,  when  merely  marching  home,  and  at  this  season 
of  the  year,  it  is  getting  disagreeable.  We  march  at  three 
in  the  morning  to  get  to  our  new  ground  before  the  heat 
of  the  day  begins;  but  I  imagine  the  thermometer  is 
about  98°  or  from  that  to  105°  in  tents  even  now,  and  it 
is  cool  for  the  time  of  year!  " 

In  the  same  letter  Hodson  treats  his  friend  to  some 
outspoken  criticisms  on  the  course  of  the  late  campaign: — 

"  England,  I  see,  is  ringing  with  the  deeds  of  the  '  army 
of  the  Satlaj.'  How  would  it  not  be  roused  from  one  end 
to  the  other  were  the  whole  truth  known!  Were  the 
tissue  of  mismanagement,  blunders,  errors,  ignorance, 
and  arrogance  displayed  during  the  short  but  '  glorious  ' 
campaign  exposed,  the  indignation  excited  by  it  would, 
I  trust,  be  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  for  India.  The 
despatches  are  most  disgraceful.  The  most  unblushing 
falsehoods  are  put  forth,  both  as  to  facts,  figures,  and 
individuals,  with  a  coolness  worthy  of  Napoleon.  I  have 
little  hopes,  however,  of  any  improvement.  Success — 
ultimate  success — throws  its  cloak  of  charity  over  un- 
numbered errors,  and  in  a  few  months  it  will  be  forgotten 
that  100  English  gentlemen,  some  thousands  of  brave 
soldiers,  have  died  to  retrieve  their  generals'  errors.  The 
one  great  fact  should  be  known  from  end  to  end  of  the 
land,  that  on  the  2ist  of  December  1845  an  Anglo-Indian 
army  was  repulsed,  if  not  beaten,  by  an  inferior  force  in 
point  of  numbers  and  skill,  and  undoubtedly  inferior  to 
English  soldiers  in  courage,  though  immensely  superior 
in  artillery,  and  in  knowledge  of  the  ground,  and  in 


30  Major  W.  Hodson 

generalship !  Will  it  be  believed  that  a  large  proportion, 
if  not  the  greater  part,  of  our  loss  was  caused  by  our  own 
regiments  being  so  badly  handled  that  they  fired  upon 
one  another  incessantly!  My  own  regiment  received  a 
volley  from  behind  as  we  advanced;  the  ist  Europeans 
fell  before  our  eyes  in  numbers  by  a  volley  from  our  own 
45th  Sepoys !  !  Is  not  all  this  disgraceful  and  cruel  to  an 
unparalleled  degree! 

"  It  was  near  being  a  sad  day  for  the  Indian  empire: 
nothing  but  the  cool  determination  of  the  soldiers  not  to 
be  beaten  saved  the  day,  and  enabled  them  to  resist,  un- 
supported by  artillery,  the  two  vigorous  attacks  made 
upon  us  on  the  22nd,  after  we  had  driven  them  from  their 
position  at  daybreak,  by  Tej  Singh's  fresh  troops  and 
admirably  served  artillery.  I  grant  that  the  battle  of 
Sobraon  on  the  loth  of  February  was  a  splendid  affair, 
and  well  managed  on  the  whole,  though  here  again  our 
magnificent  guns  and  mortars  were  comparatively  useless 
from  want  of  ammunition!  The  despatches  are  pretty 
truthful  on  this  last  affair,  except  in  minor  points.  My 
division,  General  Gilbert's,  had  the  pleasure  and  honour 
of  attacking  the  whole  front  of  the  formidable  intrench- 
ment  lined  by  thirty-three  regular  regiments,  and  a 
desperate  struggle  we  had  for  it,  and  the  loss  in  that  part 
of  the  affair  was  awful.  But  I  must  draw  up  short,  and 
try  hereafter  to  give  you  some  idea  of '  my  first  campaign.' 
I  have  been  most  mercifully  preserved  through  the  whole 
of  it.  As  you  may  have  seen  in  the  papers,  I  was  wounded 
at  Firozshah  by  a  shot  in  the  leg,  but  it  was  of  but  little 
consequence.  In  each  of  the  other  actions  I  was  touched, 
and  yet  I  am  alive  and  well,  and  in  better  health  and 
spirits  than  I  have  been  for  months,  and  I  trust  in  some 
things  a  better  man.  It  is  an  excellent  thing  for  one, 
you  may  depend  upon  it,  to  be  exposed  to  the  fire  of  an 
enemy,  and  a  field  of  battle  is  a  stern  but  truthful  and 
valuable  monitor:  may  its  lessons  not  be  forgotten!  " 

By  the  i3th  of  April,  the  26th  Native  Infantry  had 
reached  Umbala,  on  their  way  to  Bareilly  in  Rohilkhand. 
By  this  time  Hodson  had  fondly  hoped  to  see  himself 
transferred  to  the  ist  European  regiment,  who  had  just 
been  styled  Fusiliers  for  their  distinguished  services  in 


From  Sabathu  to  Kashmir          3 1 

the  late  campaign.  "  It  is  the  finest  regiment  in  India," 
he  writes,  "  with  white  faces,  too,  and  a  very  nice  set 
of  officers.  I  have  been  brigaded  with  them  all  along." 

He  had  evidently  had  enough  of  soldiering  with  men 
who  could  not  be  trusted  to  follow  their  white  officers  in 
the  hour  of  need.  But  the  answer  to  his  latest  applica- 
tion was  so  long  in  coming  that  the  26th  Sepoys  were 
quietly  cantoned  among  the  groves  of  Bareilly  before  he 
found  himself  posted  to  the  regiment  of  his  choice. 

How  poor  an  estimate  William  Hodson  had  in  these 
few  months  learned  to  form  of  the  regular  native  army 
of  Bengal  may  be  seen  from  the  letter  he  wrote  about  this 
time  to  his  kind  friend,  James  Thomason,  at  Agra:  "  In 
discipline  and  subordination  they  seem  to  be  lamentably 
deficient,  especially  towards  the  native  commissioned  and 
non-commissioned  officers.  On  the  march  I  have  found 
these  last  give  me  more  trouble  than  the  men  even.  My 
brother  officers  say  that  I  see  an  unfavourable  specimen 
in  the  2nd,  as  regards  discipline,  owing  to  their  frequent 
service  of  late  and  the  number  of  recruits ;  but  I  fear  the 
evil  is  very  widespread.  It  may,  no  doubt,  be  traced 
mainly  to  the  want  of  European  officers.  This,  however, 
is  an  evil  not  likely  to  be  removed  on  any  large  scale. 
Meantime,  unless  some  vigorous  and  radical  improvements 
take  place,  I  think  our  position  will  be  very  uncertain, 
and  even  alarming,  in  the  event  of  extended  hostilities. 
You  must  really  forgive  my  speaking  so  plainly,  and 
writing  my  own  opinions  so  freely.  You  encouraged  me 
to  do  so  when  I  was  at  Agra,  if  you  remember,  and  I 
value  the  privilege  too  highly  as  connected  with  the 
greater  one  of  receiving  advice  and  counsel  from  you, 
not  to  exercise  it,  even  at  the  risk  of  your  thinking  me 
presumptuous  and  hasty  in  my  opinions." l 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Thomason  himself,  writing 
to  Hodson's  father,  expressed  his  pleasure  at  William's 
evident  success  in  winning  the  esteem  and  goodwill  of 
his  brother  officers.  "  I  had  some  little  fear,"  he  adds, 
"  that  his  great  superiority  in  age  and  attainments  to 
those  of  his  own  standing  in  the  army  might  make  him 
the  object  of  envy  and  disparagement.  I  felt  that  he  had 
1  Eraser's  Magazine,  for  February  1859. 


32  Major  W.  Hodson 

no  easy  task  before  him,  and  that  it  would  be  difficult  to 
conduct  himself  with  discretion  and  becoming  humility 
in  such  a  position.  He  was  quite  aware  of  the  difficulty 
when  we  talked  the  matter  over  at  Agra,  and  I  am  much 
pleased  to  see  the  success  which  has  attended  his  prudent 
exertions." 

In  May  of  this  year,  1846,  while  the  hot  winds  were 
blowing  their  fiercest  over  the  scorched  plains  below,  the 
ist  Bengal  Fusiliers  were  resting  from  war's  hardships  in 
the  cool  hill-station  of  Sabathu,  lying  nearly  half-way  on 
the  old  road  from  Kalka  up  to  the  lofty  wood-crowned 
heights  of  Simla.  Hodson  resolved  to  reach  Sabathu  by 
making  his  way  across  the  long  range  of  mountains  that 
stretch  north-westwards  from  Naini-Tal.  A  friendly 
civilian  offered  to  take  him  from  Bareilly  up  to  Naini-Tal, 
whence  he  continued  his  journey  on  foot,  trusting  "  that 
my  old  powers  of  walking  and  endurance  will  revive  in 
the  mountain  air." 

But  the  rainy  season,  which  that  year  set  in  early  in 
June,  compelled  Hodson  to  change  his  plans  by  the  time 
he  reached  Mussoorie.  After  a  halt  of  two  days  at  that 
station,  he  rode  down  to  Dera  Dun,  and  travelled  thence 
by  post  through  Saharanpur  and  Umbala  to  the  foot  of 
the  Simla  hills.  At  Kalka  he  mounted  his  own  horse  and 
rode  on  straight  to  Sabathu.  "  Here  I  am  at  last,"  he 
writes  on  June  16,  "  with  my  own  regiment,  and  with  the 
prospect  of  being  quiet  for  four  months.  I  am  eighth 
second  lieutenant ;  a  distinguished  position,  is  it  not  ?  at 
the  age  of  five-and-twenty.  The  campaign,  I  am  sorry 
to  say,  did  me  no  good  in  the  way  of  promotion,  owing  to 
my  not  having  been  '  posted '  permanently  before  it 
commenced." 

On  July  3,  Hodson  begs  his  father  to  congratulate  him 
on  being  posted  to  so  splendid  a  corps  as  the  ist  Fusiliers, 
"  now,  alas !  a  mere  shadow  of  what  it  was  six  months 
ago.  We  could  only  muster  256  men  under  arms  when 
we  were  inspected  by  Sir  Walter  Gilbert  on  the  ist;  but 
then  there  was  a  most  picturesque  body  of  convalescents 
present  with  their  empty  sleeves,  pale  faces,  and  crutches, 
but  looking  proudly  conscious  of  their  good  conduct, 
and  ready  '  to  do  it  again.'  We  are  under  much  stricter 


From  Sabathu  to  Kashmir          33 

discipline  in  this  corps,  both  officers  and  men,  and  obliged 
to  be  orderly  and  submissive.  No  bad  thing  for  us  either. 
I  hold  there  is  more  real  liberty  in  being  under  a  decent 
restraint  than  in  absolute  freedom  from  any  check.  I 
have  been  much  more  reconciled  to  India  since  I  joined 
this  regiment.  It  is  pleasant  to  have  white  faces  about 
one,  and  hear  one's  own  tongue  spoken;  and  then,  besides, 
there  is  a  home-loving  feeling  in  this  corps  which  I  have 
never  met  with  in  India."1 

On  August  31,  Hodson  went  up  to  Simla  to  spend  a 
week  with  his  new  friend,  Colonel  Henry  Lawrence,  to 
whom  Thomason  had  introduced  him  by  letter  in  the 
previous  March.  This  was  to  prove  the  beginning  of  a 
friendship  which  lasted  throughout  both  their  lives.  The 
week  grew  into  a  month,  "  thanks  to  Colonel  Lawrence's 
pressing,  and  Colonel  Orchard's,  my  colonel's,  kindness." 

At  Lawrence's  own  desire  the  two  lived,  worked,  and 
slept  together  in  the  same  rooms,  Hodson  making  himself 
generally  useful  by  writing  out  abstracts  of  his  friend's 
letters  and  copying  his  confidential  papers.  "  He  is 
amazingly  kind,"  wrote  Hodson,  "  and  tells  me  all  that 
is  going  on,  initiating  me  into  the  mysteries  of '  political ' 
business,  and  thus  giving  me  more  knowledge  of  things 
and  persons  Indian  than  I  should  learn  in  a  year  of 
ordinary  life — ay,  or  in  three  years  either.  This  is  a 
great  advantage  to  my  ultimate  prospects.  ...  He  makes 
me  work  at  Hindustani,  and  has  given  me  a  lesson  or  two 
in  the  use  of  the  theodolite  and  other  surveying  instru- 
ments, to  the  end  that  I  may  get  employed  in  the  Survey- 
ing Department,  after  two  years  of  which,  he  says,  '  I 
shall  be  fit  for  a  political.'  " 

The  kindly  old  captain  of  artillery,  who  had  in  his  time 
played  many  parts  in  his  country's  service,  was  delighted 
with  the  many  proofs  of  his  young  friend's  zeal  and 
capacity.  Writing  home  in  September  to  his  wife,  Henry 
Lawrence  says:  "  I  brought  up  with  me  from  Sabathu 
a  fine  young  fellow,  by  name  Hodson,  son  of  the  Arch- 
deacon of  Stafford.  He  is  now  (10  P.M.)  sleeping  in  my 
little  office-room,  where  I  am  writing.  Thomason  recom- 
mended him  to  me,  and  I  have  seldom  met  so  promising 
1  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse. 

C 


34  Major  W.  Hodson 

a  young  fellow.  He  left  the  native  branch  of  the  army 
at  the  expense  of  some  steps,  because  he  did  not  like  the 
conduct  of  the  sepoys.  He  was  for  four  years  with  Dr. 
Arnold,  and  two  in  the  Sixth  Form  under  his  eye.  He 
speaks  most  affectionately  of  him.  I  will  try  to  get 
leave  for  him  for  a  month,  to  accompany  me  to  Lahore 
and  Jammu  in  October.  ...  I  get  a  good  deal  of  help 
from  Hodson,  who  works  willingly  and  sensibly.  Perhaps 
you  may  meet  the  family  at  Lichfield." 

"  If  I  were  only  nearer  you  all,"  writes  Hodson,  "  and 
had  any  old  friends  about  me,  I  should  have  nothing  to 
regret  or  wish  for.  It  is  there  that  the  shoe  pinches.  All 
minor  annoyances  are  easily  got  rid  of,  but  one  does  find 
a  wonderful  lack  of  one's  old  friends  and  old  associations. 
Society  is  very  different  here  from  ours  at  home,  and 
different  as  it  is,  I  have  seen  very  little  of  it.  Nor  am  I, 
with  my  previous  habits,  age,  and  education,  the  person 
to  feel  this  an  indifferent  matter;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
all  the  drawbacks  of  Indian  existence  come  with  redoubled 
force  from  the  greatness  of  the  contrast.  Still  I  do  not 
let  these  things  annoy  me  or  weigh  down  my  spirits,  but 
strive,  by  keeping  up  English  habits,  tastes,  and  feelings, 
and  looking  forward  to  a  run  home  (thus  having  a  motive 
always  in  view),  to  make  the  best  of  everything  as  it 
occurs,  and  to  act  upon  the  principle  that  mere  outward 
circumstances  don't  make  a  man's  happiness." 

It  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  a  young  man  of  Hodson's 
years,  tastes,  and  training  did  not  take  kindly  to  Anglo- 
Indian  ways  and  traditions,  or  that  he  should  feel  con- 
tempt for  a  regular  Indian,  "  a  man  who  thinks  it  fine 
to  adopt  a  totally  different  set  of  habits  and  morals  and 
fashions,  until,  in  forgetting  that  he  is  an  Englishman,  he 
usually  forgets  also  that  he  is  a  Christian  and  a  gentleman." 
A  Cambridge  graduate  of  twenty-five  would  naturally 
have  little  in  common  with  boys  of  sixteen  and  seventeen 
fresh  from  school,  free  from  all  home  restraints,  and 
launched  without  warning  into  a  strange  new  world  of 
moral  and  social  complexities.  Their  ways  were  not  his 
ways,  nor  would  he  deign  to  lay  aside  one  of  his  English 
habits  for  the  sake  of  winning  the  goodwill  of  younger  or 
less  fastidious  comrades. 


From  Sabathu  to  Kashmir          35 

Things  at  this  time  were  not  going  smoothly  beyond 
the  frontier.  Gulab  Singh's  entrance  into  Kashmir  had 
been  followed  by  his  speedy  retirement  before  a  body  of 
the  insurgents,  who  drove  his  troops  out  of  the  valley  in 
the  name  of  their  late  governor,  Shaikh  Imam-ud-din. 
Hodson  expects  that "  October  will  see  an  army  assembled 
to  frighten  them  into  submission.  .  .  .  We  seem  bound 
to  see  him  established  on  the  throne  we  carved  out  for 
him,  and  it  is  our  only  chance  of  keeping  peace  and 
order;  though  at  the  best  he  is  such  a  villain,  and  so 
detested,  that  I  imagine  it  will  be  but  a  sorry  state  of 
quietness — 

'  The  torrent's  smoothness  ere  it  dash  below."  " 

On  October  i,  1846,  Hodson  left  Sabathu  to  join 
Colonel  Lawrence  at  the  foot  of  the  hills.  At  Rupar  on 
the  Satlaj  they  took  boat  for  Ferozepore,  "  and  came 
across  to  Lahore  during  the  night  in  a  capital  barouche 
belonging  to  the  Rani,  with  relays  of  horses  and  an  escort 
of  cavalry."  While  two  British  columns  advanced  north- 
wards from  Lahore  and  Jalandhar,  Lawrence  himself 
marched  towards  Kashmir  at  the  head  of  some  10,000- 
of  those  very  Sikhs  who  had  fought  against  us  at  Firoz- 
shah  and  Sobraon.  Hodson  was  delighted  at  the  thought 
of  seeing  Kashmir,  and  was  "  gaining  great  advantage 
from  being  with  these  '  politicals,'  in  the  way  of  learning 
the  languages  and  the  method  of  governing  the  natives. 
I  have  been  hard  at  work  day  and  night  for  some  time 
now  writing  for  Colonel  Lawrence." 

In  the  last  week  of  October,  Lawrence  was  encamped 
at  Thana,  at  the  foot  of  a  pass  leading  into  the  peerless 
valley  of  Kashmir.  Hodson  himself  was  one  of  the  very 
few  English  officers  who  had  accompanied  him  on  that 
memorable  march.  On  the  plain  below  were  lying  in 
picturesque  confusion  and  motley  garb  the  combined 
forces  of  Jammu  and  Lahore.  "  The  spare  stalwart  Sikh, 
with  his  grizzled  beard  and  blue  turban  of  the  scantiest 
dimensions,  side  by  side  with  the  huge-limbed  Afghan,, 
with  voluminous  head-gear  and  many-coloured  garments. 
The  proud  Brahmin  in  the  same  ranks  with  the  fierce 
*  Children  of  the  Faithful ';  the  little  active  hillman;  the 


36  Major  W.  Hodson 

diminutive,  sturdy,  platter-faced  Gurkha,  and  the  slight 
made  Hindustani,  collected  in  the  same  tents,  and  all  alike 
clothed  in  a  caricature  of  the  British  uniform." 

Hodson  had  seen  "  a  great  deal  of  the  native  sirdars, 
or  chiefs,  especially  Tej  Singh,  who  commanded  the  Sikh 
forces  in  the  war,  and  of  the  Maharajah, — the  former  a 
small,  spare,  little  man,  marked  with  the  smallpox,  and 
with  a  thin  scanty  beard,  but  sharp  and  intelligent,  and 
by  his  own  account  a  hero"  The  Maharajah,  Gulab 
Singh,  was  "  a  fine,  tall,  portly  man,  with  a  splendid 
expressive  face,  and  most  gentlemanly  pleasing  manner, 
and  fine-toned  voice  —  altogether  the  most  pleasing 
Asiatic  I  have  seen,  to  all  appearance  the  gentlest  of  the 
gentle,  and  the  most  sincere  and  truthful  character  in  the 
world.  And  in  his  habits  he  is  certainly  exemplary;  but 
he  is  the  cleverest  hypocrite  in  the  world ;  as  sharp  and 
acute  as  possible,  devoured  by  avarice  and  ambition,  and 
when  roused,  horribly  cruel.  This  latter  accusation  he 
rebuts  by  alleging  the  necessity  of  the  case  and  the  ferocity 
of  those  he  has  to  deal  with.  To  us,  however,  his  fondness 
for  flaying  men  alive,  cutting  off  their  noses  and  ears  and 
hands,  etc.,  savours  of  the  inexcusable.  He  was  accused 
of  having  flayed  12,000  men,  which  he  indignantly  asserted 
was  a  monstrous  calumny,  as  he  only  skinned  three ; 
afterwards  he  confessed  to  three  hundred,  1  Yet  he  is  not 
a  bit  worse,  and  in  many  ways  infinitely  better,  than 
most  native  princes.  Lawrence  doubts  whether  one 
could  be  found  with  fewer  faults,  if  placed  in  similar 
circumstances." 

Of  the  costumes  of  the  Sikh  sirdars,  "  the  effect,"  says 
Hodson,  "  is  always  good,  however  bright  they  may  be. 
They  never  make  a  mistake  in  colours."  On  the  25th 
Lawrence  knew  there  would  be  no  fighting,  for  the  recusant 
Imam-ud-din  was  already  on  his  way  to  make  full  sub- 
mission. By  the  end  of  October  he  had  yielded  himself 
up  to  the  safe  keeping  of  Captain  Herbert  Edwardes,  who 
on  the  ist  of  November  brought  him  into  the  camp  of 
Colonel  Lawrence. 

While  Edwardes  was  escorting  his  penitent  captive  to 
Lahore,  Hodson  himself  accompanied  his  patron  into  the 
beautiful  valley  for  the  purpose  of  installing  Gulab  Singh 


From  Sabathu  to  Kashmir          37 

in  the  capital  of  his  new  dominions.  On  November  4,, 
Lawrence's  party  crossed  the  Pir  Panjal  Pass,  12,000  feet 
above  the  sea,  with  snow  all  around  them.  The  road 
from  Thana  to  the  top  of  the  pass  was,  in  Hodson's  words, 
"  most  lovely  the  whole  way,  winding  up  a  glen  wooded 
magnificently,  and  the  rocks  towering  above  us  on  all 
sides;  the  trees  were  all  in  their  varied  autumn  dress, 
surmounted  by  forests  of  pine:  altogether  I  never  saw 
so  grand  a  scene."  On  the  5th  the  three  Englishmen, 
Lawrence,  Browne,  and  Hodson,  rode  down  into  the  valley 
"  amid  the  acclamations  of  an  admiring  population  of 
beggars !  "  A  few  days  spent  in  the  valley  sufficed  to 
carry  out  Lawrence's  plans  for  the  pacification  of  Kashmir. 
This  chapter  may  fitly  close  with  Hodson's  descrip- 
tion of  the  men  and  women  of  Kashmir:  "  They  are  a 
poor  wretched  set,  only  good  for  beasts  of  burden, — and 
certainly  they  can  carry  a  vast  load, — their  dress,  both 
men  and  women,  being  a  loose  wide-sleeved  smock-frock 
of  dirty  sackcloth-looking  woollen.  The  men  wear  a  dirty 
skull-cap  on  their  shaven  '  nobs,'  and  the  women  a  crimson 
machine,  like  a  flower-pot  saucer  inverted,  from  which 
depends  a  veil  or  cloth  of  the  same  texture  as  the  frock; 
legs  and  feet  clothed  in  their  native  dirt.  The  women  are 
atrociously  ugly,  and  screech  like  the  witches  in  '  Macbeth  ' 
— so  much  so,  that  when  the  agent  asked  me  to  give  them 
a  rupee  or  two,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  refuse  firmly,  but 
respectfully,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  encouraging 
ugliness !  " 


CHAPTER  V 

"  FRESH  WOODS   AND   PASTURES   NEW."      1846-1848 

BEFORE  returning  to  Sabathu,  Hodson  had  to  play  his 
part  in  a  certain  drama  enacted  at  Lahore  by  special 
command  of  Lord  Hardinge.  As  soon  as  Lawrence 
reached  Lahore  a  commission  of  five  British  officers, 
headed  by  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir  Frederick)  Currie,  sat  in 
judgment  upon  Lai  Singh,  the  treacherous  Wazir  who  had 
secretly  prompted  the  rebellion  of  Shaikh  Imam-ud-din. 
The  Wazir's  guilt  was  proved  beyond  question,  and  the 
queen-regent's  worthless  paramour  was  deposed  from  his 
high  office  and  sent  off  as  a  state  prisoner  to  the  fort  of 
Agra. 

Writing  to  Mr.  Foster  from  Sabathu  on  the  last  day  of 
1846,  Hodson  speaks  of  his  own  modest  share  in  the 
historic  tragi-comedy,  which  led  up  to  the  treaty  of 
Bhairowal, — a  treaty  under  which  Henry  Lawrence,  as 
president  of  a  remodelled  council  of  regency,  became 
virtual  ruler  of  the  Punjab:  "  You  will  see  in  the  papers 
an  account  of  the  new  arrangements  for  the  occupation 
of  the  Punjab,  but  you  will  not  see  an  account  of  the 
share  your  unfortunate  friend  had  in  it,  and  the  rather 
conspicuous  part  I  played  at  Lahore  during  the  late  in- 
vestigation, which  ended  in  the  deposition  of  the  Wazir, 
Lai  Singh.  I  was  sent  both  days  to  bring  him  and  his 
•court  to  the  tents  where  the  proceedings  were  being  carried 
on;  and  when  he  was  deposed,  I  was  commissioned  to 
accompany  him  to  his  honourable  confinement.  I  am  not 
a  very  nervous  subject  in  these  matters,  but  it  might  have 
been  anything  but  a  joke  taking  a  fallen  Sikh  ruler  to  his 
place  of  durance  unaccompanied  by  a  single  man  save  his 
own  wild  fanatic  followers.  Yet  I  and  two  other  English 
officers  were  allowed  to  take  himt  away,  put  him  down  at 
his  sponging-house,  and  ride  away  without  so  much  as  a 
stone  being  thrown!  and  less  than  a  year  ago  this  very 
38 


"  Fresh  Woods  and  Pastures  New  "      39 

man  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  most  formidable  armies 
that  ever  threatened  our  power  in  India." 

"  I  have  still,"  he  writes,  "  two  second  lieutenants  above 
me.  However,  it  would  be  worth  while  to  exchange  at  a 
loss  into  this  corps.  I  am  uncommonly  proud  of  it,  or  at 
least  of  what  remains  of  it,  for  we  are  hardly  more  than  a 
skeleton.  Lord  Gough,  in  reviewing  us  the  other  day,  said 
he  would  rather  have  the  300  men  we  had  left,  to  go  into 
action  with,  than  any  other  regiment  a  thousand  strong ! 
This,  even  when  taken  cum  grano,  is  very  gratifying,  and 
is,  moreover,  an  expression  of  the  opinion  of  the  whole 
service.  .  .  .  You  know  what  good  spirits  I  have  always 
had,  and  that  I  was  not  apt  to  be  gloomy,  and  yet  even 
I  find  it  hard  not  to  be  depressed  very  often.  The  want 
of  society  is  very  trying  to  a  man  who  has  left  England 
at  an  age  to  appreciate  its  benefits ;  and  our  only  society 
here  is  in  our  regiment,  and  though  we  are  very  fortunate 
in  our  present  set,  you  can  understand  that  there  is  not 
much  to  encourage  one  in  the  somewhat  noisy  companion- 
ship of  a  number  of  fellows  nearly  all  one's  juniors  by  some 
years.  Ladies'  society  there  is  none :  there  are  a  few  who 
call  themselves  such,  but  with  very  little  reason,  save  that 
they  are  not  men. 

"  There  is  much  in  India  to  interest  one,  much  worthy 
of  all  one's  efforts,  many  most  important  duties  and  in- 
fluences, but  nothing  to  call  forth  one's  affections  or  any 
of  the  softer  and  more  delightful  feelings  of  youth  and  life. 
In  fact,  one's  life  is  a  harsh  reality;  nothing  is  left  to  the 
imagination;  no  amenities;  no  poetry;  no  music;  nothing 
elegant;  nothing  refined.  There  is  nothing  left  but  to  be 
up  and  doing,  to  be  active  and  energetic  while  you  can, 
and  look  forward  to  a  happier  state  either  here  or  hereafter. 
I  certainly  have  commenced  my  Indian  career  under  more 
favourable  circumstances  than  often  falls  to  the  lot  of  a 
man  on  his  first  introduction :  both  in  my  own  line  and  in 
the  opportunities  I  have  had  of  becoming  initiated  into 
the  '  native  mind  '  and  principles  of  action  during  my 
sojourn  with  Colonel  Lawrence." 

As  early  as  August  1846,  Hodson  and  two  engineer 
officers  had  set  out  with  Lawrence  in  search  of  a  fitting 
site  for  the  asylum  which  Lawrence  had  long  been  eager 


40  Major  W.  Hodson 

to  erect  among  the  Himalayan  pines  and  cedars  for  the 
benefit  of  the  children  of  our  European  soldiers.  "  We 
nearly  fixed,"  wrote  Lawrence,  "  on  a  spur  of  the  Kussowlie 
Hill,  but  eventually  selected  the  hill  of  Sanawar  as  com- 
bining most  of  the  requisites  for  an  asylum — viz.,  isolation, 
with  ample  space  and  plenty  of  water,  at  a  good  height, 
in  a  healthy  locality  not  far  from  European  troops.  The 
selection  was  most  fortunate,  and  I  doubt  not  I  owe  it  to 
my  companions."  * 

As  secretary  to  the  new  asylum,  which  was  soon  to 
bear  the  name  of  its  illustrious  founder,  William  Hodson 
in  the  spring  of  1847  entered  into  a  strange  new  world  of 
multifarious  labours  and  responsibilities.  "  Since  the  ist 
of  April,"  he  writes  to  Mr.  Foster  in  August,  "  I  have  been 
deeply  engaged  in  building  and  superintending  the  starting 
of  '  an  asylum  for  European  soldiers'  children  in  the  hills/ 
the  idea  of  which  was  started  by  Colonel  Lawrence,  and 
most  liberal  funds  into  the  bargain.  Throughout  the 
summer  I  have  had  the  sole  direction  of  some  600  work- 
people, besides  keeping  accounts  and  answering  inquiries 
and  letters  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  in  my  capacity 
of  secretary." 

No  wonder  that  the  constant  exposure  during  a  very 
hot  June  knocked  him  up,  and  brought  on  an  attack  of 
illness  from  which  he  suffered  more  or  less  during  the  next 
two  months. 

"  You  would  have  been  amused,"  he  continues,  "  to 
see  me  undertake  what  might  truly  be  called  a  magnum- 
opus  with  so  little  previous  training.  It  is  only  a  specimen 
of  the  way  in  which  India  brings  a  man  out,  and  of  how 
varied  and  unusual  are  the  calls  upon  the  faculties  of  mind 
and  body  in  the  course  of  one's  career  in  the  East. 

"  Building  is  a  totally  different  affair  here  from  similar 
employment  at  home.  You  begin  literally  from  the  mine, 
the  quarry,  and  the  forest.  You  have  actually  to  teach 
your  workmen  as  you  go  on,  and  in  my  case  to  learn  your- 
self at  the  same  time !  and  to  be  prepared  to  explain  and 
point  out  every,  even  the  most  simple,  operation  of  handi- 
craft. I  have  gone  to  the  forest  and  selected  trees  from 
the  wood,  and  when  cut  down,  shown  the  carpenters  how 
1  Merivale's  Life  of  Sir  H.  Lawrence. 


"  Fresh  Woods  and  Pastures  New  "      41 

to  cut  planks  from  them,  and  then  to  make  them  into  doors 
and  windows.  At  other  times  I  have  made  moulds  for 
bricks  and  pointed  out  their  use;  or  marked  out  rocks  in 
the  quarry,  to  be  subdued  by  the  chisel  and  hammer. 
In  addition  to  this  is  the  duty  of  drawing  plans  and  de- 
signing buildings,  of  procuring  workmen  and  paying  them, 
and  training  the  whole  to  a  nigger's  greatest  difficulty — 
'  industry.'  Of  course  you  must  understand  that  this 
description,  though  faithful  as  to  my  experience  in  this 
frontier  country  where  our  rule  has  been  so  short,  would 
be  exaggerated  if  applied  to  the  long-established  provinces 
below.  Here  contact  and  example  and  teaching  have  done 
their  work,  and  things  go  on  in  a  more  smooth  civilised 
fashion.  .  .  .  However,  I  am  far  from  grudging  the 
labour  in  so  good  a  cause,  which  will  rescue  the  soldier's 
child  from  an  infancy  of  contamination  and  ignorance, 
and  an  early  death  or  life  of  sickly  misery.  Nor  in 
a  selfish  point  of  view  is  it  to  be  regretted,  since  I  have  got 
a  name  for  willingness  to  work  which  will  stand  me  in 
stead  hereafter." 

Colonel  Lawrence,  for  his  part,  "  seems  determined," 
says  Hodson  in  one  of  his  letters  home,  "  I  shall  have 
nothing  to  stop  me;  for  his  invariable  reply  to  every 
question  is,  '  act  on  your  own  judgment ';  'do  what  you 
think  right ' ;  '  I  give  you  carte  blanche  to  act  in  my  name 
and  draw  on  my  funds,'  and  so  forth."  The  asylum  was 
opened  in  due  course  by  Mrs.  George  Lawrence,  wife  of 
Henry's  elder  brother,  Captain  George  Lawrence,  who  had 
been  one  of  the  Kabul  prisoners  during  the  first  Afghan 
war. 

In  a  letter  to  his  brother,  Hodson  refers  to  his  work  at 
Sanawar:  "  One  is  obliged  to  take  to  anything  that  offers 
to  avoid  the  tcedium  vitce  which  the  want  of  employment 
engenders  in  this  '  lovely  country,' — in  those,  at  least, 
who  have  not  learnt  to  exist  in  the  philosophical  medium 
of  brandy  and  cheroots.  Did  I  tell  you,  by  the  bye,  that 
I  abjured  tobacco  when  I  left  England,  and  that  I  have 
never  been  tempted  by  even  a  night  al  fresco  to  resume 
the  delusive  habit?  Nor  have  I  told  you  (because  I 
despaired  of  your  believing  it)  that  I  have  declined  from 
the  paths  of  virtue  in  respect  to  beer  also,  this  two  years 


42  Major  W.  Hodson 

past,  seldom  or  never  even  tasting  that  once  idolised 
stimulant!  It  has  not  been  caused  alone  by  a  love  of 
•eccentricity,  but  by  the  very  sensitive  state  of  my  inner 
man,  achieved  in  India,  which  obliges  me  to  live  by  rule." 

During  this  year  Hodson  had  certainly,  to  use  his  own 
words,  "  had  a  benefit  of  work,  both  civil  and  literary, 
for  the  Institution;  and  since  Colonel  Lawrence  put  an 
advertisement  in  the  papers  desiring  all  anxious  persons 
to  apply  to  me,  I  have  had  enough  on  my  hands.  It  is 
all  very  well,  but  interferes  no  little  with  my  reading; 
and  I  am  sure  to  get  more  kicks  than  thanks  for  my  pains 
from  an  ungrateful  and  undiscerning  public.  However, 
as  long  as  Colonel  Lawrence  leaves  everything  so  com- 
pletely in  my  hands,  and  trusts  so  implicitly  to  my  skill 
and  honesty,  it  would  be  a  shame  not  to  work  '  wnlike  a 
nigger.' 

"  It  is  intended  that  the  children  should  remain  in  the 
Institution  until  they  are  eighteen  years  of  age,  if  their 
fathers  be  alive,  and  until  somehow  or  other  provided  for 
should  they  be  orphans.  The  majority  of  the  boys  will, 
of  course,  become  soldiers;  but  my  belief  is,  that  having 
been  brought  up  in  the  delightful  climate  of  the  Himalaya, 
they  will,  after  ten  or  fifteen  years,  settle  down  in  the 
various  stations  and  slightly  elevated  valleys  in  these 
hills  as  traders  and  cultivators,  and  form  the  nucleus  of 
the  first  British  colony  in  India.  My  object  is  to  give  them 
English  habits  from  the  first,  which  they  have  in  most 
cases  to  learn,  from  being  brought  up  by  native  nurses 
from  infancy.  Part  of  the  scheme  is  to  make  the  Institu- 
tion support  itself,  and  I  am  very  shortly  going  to  start 
a  farmyard.  I  have  already  got  a  fine  large  garden  in 
full  swing;  and  here  you  may  see  French  beans,  cabbages, 
strawberry  plants,  and  fine  potatoes  free  from  disease. 
I  steadfastly  refuse  the  slightest  dash  of  colour  in  admit- 
ting children.  People  may  call  this  illiberal  if  they  please ; 
the  answer  is  obvious.  Half-castes  stand  the  climate  of 
the  plains  too  well  to  need  a  hill  sanitarium,  and  by  mixing 
them  with  English  children  you  corrupt  those  whom  you 
wish  to  benefit."  x 

In  October  1847,  the  ist  Fusiliers— now  the  ist  Munster 
1  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse. 


"  Fresh  Woods  and  Pastures  New  "     43 

Fusiliers — began  their  march  from  Sabathu  towards  Cawn- 
pore.  Hodson  naturally  did  not  relish  the  prospect  of 
returning  to  mere  regimental  duty  in  the  plains,  and  the 
adjutancy  which  he  had  meanwhile  been  led  to  hope  for 
did  not  fall  vacant  at  the  time  expected.  But  his  kind 
patron  intervened  betimes  on  his  young  friend's  behalf. 
Not  the  least  noteworthy  of  Henry  Lawrence's  achieve- 
ments in  the  Punjab  was  the  formation  of  that  splendid 
corps  of  Guides,  which  was  afterwards  to  win  renown  in 
many  a  frontier  campaign,  to  say  nothing  of  its  matchless 
services  during  the  Sepoy  Mutiny  of  1857.  Lawrence,  in 
his  steadfast  zeal  for  Hodson's  advantage,  had  strongly 
advised  him  to  accept  the  adjutancy  of  his  regiment  as 
a  useful  step  towards  further  distinction.  "  I  know  of 
no  man,"  he  added,  "  of  double  or  treble  your  standing 
who  has  so  good  a  prospect  before  him.  Favour  and 
partiality  do  occasionally  give  a  man  a  lift,  but  depend 
upon  it  that  his  is  the  best  chance  in  the  long-run  who 
helps  himself.  So  far  you  have  done  this  manfully,  and 
you  have  reason  to  be  proud  of  being  selected  at  one 
time  for  three  different  appointments  by  three  different 
men.  Don't,  however,  be  too  proud.  Learn  your  duties 
thoroughly.  Continue  to  study  two  or  three  hours  a-day, 
not  to  pass  in  a  hurry,  but  that  you  may  do  so  two  or 
three  years  hence  with  eclat.  ...  In  oriental  phrase, 
pray  consider  that  much  is  said  in  this  hurried  scrawl,  and 
believe  that  I  shall  watch  your  career  with  warm  interest." 

The  disappointment  regarding  the  adjutancy  was  more 
than  compensated  by  the  good  fortune  to  which  Hodson 
himself  thus  refers:  "  You  will,  I  am  sure,  rejoice  with  me 
at  my  unprecedented  good  fortune  in  being  appointed  to 
a  responsible  and  honourable  post,  almost  before,  by  the 
rules  of  the  service,  I  am  entitled  to  take  charge  of  a 
company  of  sepoys.  I  shall  even  be  better  off  than  I 
thought;  instead  of  merely  '  doing  duty  '  with  the  Guide 
Corps,  I  am  to  be  the  second  in  command." 

This  corps,  as  first  raised  in  December  1846,  consisted 
of  one  troop  of  horse  and  two  companies  of  foot,  placed 
under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  (afterwards  Sir  Harry) 
Lumsden.  Of  the  men  at  first  enlisted  some  were  Hindu- 
stani soldiers  then  serving  in  the  Sikh  army,  while  a  few 


44  Major  W.  Hodson 

Pathans  who  had  served  with  us  in  Afghanistan,  and  some 
Mazbi,  or  low-caste  Sikhs,  formed  the  remainder  of  the 
infant  corps.  "  The  grand  object  of  the  corps,"  in 
Hodson's  words,  "is  to  train  a  body  of  men  in  peace  to 
be  efficient  in  war :  to  be  not  only  acquainted  with 
localities,  roads,  rivers,  hills,  ferries,  and  passes,  but  have 
a  good  idea  of  the  produce  and  supplies  available  in  any 
part  of  the  country;  to  give  accurate  information,  not 
running  open-mouthed  to  say  that  10,000  horsemen  and 
a  thousand  guns  are  coming  (in  true  native  style),  but  to 
stop  to  see  whether  it  may  not  be  really  only  a  common 
cart  and  a  few  wild  horsemen  who  are  kicking  up  all  the 
dust;  to  call  twenty -five  by  its  right  name,  and  not  say 
fifty  for  short,  as  most  natives  do.  This,  of  course,  wants 
a  great  deal  of  careful  instruction  and  attention.  Beyond 
this,  the  officers  should  give  a  tolerably  correct  sketch  and 
report  of  any  country  through  which  they  may  pass,  be 
au  fait  at  routes  and  means  of  feeding  troops,  and  above 
all — and  here  you  come  close  upon  practical  duties — keep 
an  eye  on  the  doings  '  of  the  neighbours  '  and  the  state 
of  the  country,  so  as  to  be  able  to  give  such  information 
as  may  lead  to  any  outbreak  being  nipped  in  the  bud." 

Not  content  with  procuring  Hodson's  appointment  to 
the  Guides,  Lawrence  found  some  preliminary  work  for 
his  zealous  follower  in  the  country  between  Lahore  and 
the  Satlaj.  "  You  must  congratulate  me,"  Hodson 
writes  in  December  1847  from  Kassur,  "  on  having  been 
appointed  to  the  staff  of  the  Resident  at  Lahore,  a  piece 
of  good  fortune  almost  unprecedented  in  one  so  young  in 
the  service.  I  owe  it  to  the  continued  and  unwearying 
kindness  of  Colonel  Lawrence,  and  to  an  impression  on 
the  part  of  the  powers  that  be,  that  I  was  game  to  work : 
one  which,  I  must  confess,  I  have  done  somewhat  to  deserve 
during  the  past  year.  I  am  now,  in  addition  to  the  duties 
of  the  Guide  Corps,  employed  in  surveying,  and  making 
roads  and  canals  under  the  chief  engineer,  so  as  to  open 
up  and  improve  the  country  of  the  Sikhs;  while  at  the 
same  time  I  have  to  keep  an  eye  on  the  doings  of  the 
native  officials,  and  protect  the  oppressed  from  injustice 
and  tyranny.  I  have  only  within  the  last  two  days 
hunted  out  as  pretty  a  case  of  murder  and  robbery  as 


"  Fresh  Woods  and  Pastures  New  "     45 

ever  graced  Newgate,  and  sent  the  worthies  to  Lahore 
for  trial,  besides  several  cases  of  theft  and  false  imprison- 
ment. .  .  .  Within  the  last  thirty -two  days  I  have  marked 
out  and  cleared  twenty  miles  of  road  through  a  wide 
jungle;  collected  and  set  to  work  upwards  of  1000  men, 
and  trained  them  to  all  kinds  of  employments  which  they 
had  never  seen  before.  In  short,  you  may  judge  I  have 
not  been  idle  when  I  tell  you  that  upwards  of  50,000  Rs. 
have  passed  through  my  hands  in  the  last  nine  months 
for  public  works.  Till  the  last  month  this  has  been  gratis 
on  my  part,  but  my  new  appointment  comfortably  doubles 
my  regimental  pay,  which  in  these  hard  times  is  not  a  bad 
thing." 

On  November  30,  Henry  Lawrence  quitted  Lahore  on 
sick-leave  for  two  years  to  England.  A  few  days  earlier 
Hodson  had  paid  him  a  farewell  visit,  and  received 
his  last  instructions.  "  He  is  a  genuinely  kind-hearted 
mortal,  and  has  been  a  brother  to  me  ever  since  I  knew 
him.  I  hope  to  see  him  back  in  two  years,  invigorated 
and  renewed,  to  carry  out  the  good  work  which  he  has 
so  nobly  begun."  But  events  were  already  working  to 
cut  short  the  hardly-earned  holiday  of  his  noble-hearted 
chief.  Henry  Lawrence  sailed  homewards  in  company 
with  Lord  Hardinge  on  the  i8th  January  1848.  The 
close  of  that  year  was  to  find  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  K.C.B., 
back  again  in  the  Punjab  with  another  Sikh  war  raging 
around  him. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   OUTBREAK   AT   MULTAN,   AND   AFTER.      1848 

AMONG  those  who  rejoiced  in  Hodson's  appointment  to 
the  Guides  was  Captain  (afterwards  Sir  Herbert)  Edwardes, 
himself  a  subaltern  in  the  ist  Bengal  Fusiliers,  who  had 
lately  been  transferred  to  Lawrence's  political  staff. 
Writing  home  to  his  mother  in  the  autumn  of  1847, 
Edwardes  thus  speaks  of  his  brother  officer:  "Young 
Hodson  has  been  appointed  to  do  duty  with  our  Punjab 
Guide  Corps,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Lumsden.  The 
duties  of  a  commandant  or  adjutant  of  Guides  are  at  once 
important  and  delightful.  ...  In  short,  it  is  a  roving 
commission,  and  to  a  man  of  spirit  and  ability  one  of  the 
finest  appointments  imaginable.  I  think  Hodson  will  do 
it  justice.  He  is  one  of  the  finest  young  fellows  I  know, 
and  a  thorough  soldier  in  his  heart." 

Some  busy  weeks,  however,  of  1848  were  yet  to  elapse 
before  Hodson  actually  joined  the  Guides.  By  the  middle 
of  January  he  was  off  again  from  Kassur  "  like  a  steam- 
engine,  calling  at  a  series  of  stations,  puffing  and  panting, 
hither  and  thither,  never  resting,  ever  starting;  now  in  a 
cutting,  now  in  a  tunnel ;  first  in  a  field,  next  on  a  hill.  .  .  . 
At  present  I  am  moving  rapidly  along  the  banks  of  a  small 
canal  which  traverses  the  Doab,  between  the  Ravi  and 
Biyas  rivers,  for  purposes  of  irrigation;  accompanying 
Major  Napier  [afterwards  Lord  Napier  of  Magdala],  to 
whom  the  prosecution  of  all  public  improvements  through- 
out the  Land  of  the  Five  Rivers  belongs." 

On  the  1 5th  he  is  resting  for  the  day  at  Dinanagar,  "  in 
a  little  garden-house  of  Ranjit  Singh's  in  the  midst  of  a 
lovely  grove  of  great  extent,  through  whose  dark-green 
boughs  we  have  a  splendid  panorama  of  the  snowy  range 
to  back  our  horizon.  We  have  great  projects  of  extending 
the  canal  by  various  branches  to  feed  and  fertilise  the 
whole  extent  of  the  Doab,  which  wants  nothing  but  water 
46 


The  Outbreak,  and  After          47 

to  make  it  a  garden,  so  fertile  is  the  soil.  .  .  .  The- 
weather  is  perfect,  so  I  am  as  happy  as  mere  externals 
can  make  one." 

A  few  days  later  he  was  staying  at  "  a  fine  picturesque 
old  castle  or  fort  built  by  the  Emperor  Shah  Jahan.  Its 
lofty  walls,  with  their  turrets  and  battlements,  enclose 
a  quadrangle  of  the  size  of  the  great  court  of  Trinity, 
while  from  the  centre  rises  a  dark  mass  of  buildings  three 
storeys  high,  forming  the  keep;  presenting  externally  four 
blank  walls  pierced  with  loopholes,  but  within,  arches  and 
pillars  and  galleries  with  an  open  space  in  the  centre,  in 
which  they  all  face.  The  summit  rises  sixty-four  feet,, 
which,  in  addition  to  the  great  elevation  of  the  mound  on 
which  the  castle  stands,  gives  a  noble  view  of  mountain,, 
river,  and  plain,  covered  with  the  finest  timber  and  green 
with  young  corn;  the  whole  backed  by  range  on  range, 
peak  after  peak,  of  dazzling  snow." 

Two  more  of  these  ruined  castles,  all  monuments  of" 
the  taste  and  grandeur  of  the  Mogul  emperors,  were 
visited  in  the  course  of  Hodson's  tour.  "That  Goth, 
Ranjit  Singh,"  he  writes,  "  and  his  followers  have  as  much 
to  answer  for  in  their  way  as  Cromwell  and  his  crop-eared 
scoundrels  in  England  and  Ireland.  They  seem  only  to 
have  conquered  to  destroy:  every  public  work,  every 
castle,  road,  serai,  or  avenue,  has  been  destroyed;  the 
finest  mosques  turned  into  powder-magazines  and  stables, 
the  gardens  into  cantonments,  and  the  fields  into  deserts." 

Hodson  one  day  came  across  an  amusing  instance  of 
the  way  in  which  the  Sikhs  managed  their  fiscal  affairs. 
He  had  been  ordered  to  report  on  the  accounts  of  revenue 
formerly  collected  in  180  villages  along  the  Shah-Nahr, 
or  Royal  Canal.  "  By  a  convenient  mixture  of  coaxing 
and  threats,  compliment  and  invective,  a  return  was  at 
last  effected,  by  which  it  appeared  that  in  ordinary  cases 
about  one-half  the  revenue  reached  the  treasury,  in  some 
one-third,  and  in  one  district  nothing  1  To  my  great 
amusement,  when  I  came  to  this  point,  the  gallant  col- 
lector, a  long-bearded  old  Sikh,  quietly  remarked,  '  Yes, 
Sahib,  this  was  indeed  a  great  place  for  us  entirely.'  I 
said,  '  Yes,  you  villain,  you  gentry  grew  fat  on  robbing 
your  master.'  '  Don't  call  it  robbing,'  he  said;  '  I  assure 


48  Major  W.  Hodson 

you  I  wouldn't  be  dishonest  for  the  world.  I  never  took 
more  than  my  predecessors  did  before  me.'  About  the 
most  naive  definition  of  honesty  I  have  had  the  luck  to 
meet  with.  I  fancy  our  visit  to  these  nooks  and  corners 
of  the  Punjab  has  added  some  £50,000  a-year  to  the 
revenue." 

About  this  time  he  was  surveying  a  part  of  the  country 
lying  along  the  left  bank  of  the  Ravi  and  below  the  hills. 
On  March  14  he  writes  again  from  Dinanagar,  whither  he 
had  returned  after  encountering  one  of  those  sudden  storms 
of  rain  which  transform  a  peaceful  landscape  into  a  wilder- 
ness of  mud,  stones,  and  water.  The  powerful  breakwater 
which  Napier's  workmen  had  just  built  across  a  branch 
of  the  Chakar  river  was  battered  by  the  conquering  flood 
until  in  two  hours  it  became,  said  Hodson,  "  a  thing  of 
history." 

In  consequence  of  Hodson's  report  as  to  the  amount 
of  plundering  that  went  on  in  his  neighbourhood,  a  large 
party  of  horse  was  sent  out  under  one  of  the  principal 
chiefs  to  act  upon  the  information  thus  supplied.  "  We 
have  accordingly  had  a  robber-hunt  on  a  large  and  toler- 
ably successful  scale.  Numbers  have  been  caught.  One 
shot,  pour  encourager  les  autres,  and  we  have  traces  of 
others,  so  that  my  quiet  practice,  originally  for  my  own 
amusement  and  information,  has  been  very  useful  to  the 
state."  He  had  discovered  the  greatest  part  of  it  by 
sending  out  clever  fellows,  disguised  as  fakeers,  or  religious 
beggars,  to  the  different  villages  to  talk  to  the  people  and 
learn  their  doings.  "  Some  of  the  stories  of  Sikh  violence, 
cruelty,  and  treachery  which  I  have  picked  up  are  almost 
beyond  belief.  The  indifference  of  these  people  to  human 
life  is  something  appalling.  I  could  hardly  get  them  to 
give  a  thought  or  attempt  an  inquiry  as  to  the  identity 
of  a  man  whom  I  found  dead,  evidently  by  violence,  by 
the  roadside  yesterday  morning;  and  they  were  horrified 
at  the  thought  of  tying  up  or  confining  a  sacred  ox  who 
"had  gored  his  thirteenth  man  the  evening  before  last! 
They  told  me  plainly  that  no  one  had  the  right  to  com- 
plain of  being  hurt  by  so  venerable  a  beast." 

Before  the  end  of  March,  Hodson  received  a  letter  from 
Sir  Frederick  Currie,  then  acting  as  Resident  at  Lahore, 


The  Outbreak,  and  After          49 

who  invited  him  to  "  knock  off  his  present  work  "  and 
come  into  Lahore  as  quickly  as  he  could.  "  I  want  to 
send  you/'  he  added,  "  with  Mr.  Agnew  to  Multan.  Mr. 
Agnew  starts  immediately  with  your  acquaintance,  Sirdar 
Shamsher  Singh,  to  assume  the  government  of  that 
province,  Mulraj  having  sent  in  his  resignation  of  the 
Nizamat.  Lieutenant  Becher  is  to  be  Agnew's  permanent 
assistant,  but  he  cannot  join  just  now,  and  I  wish  you  to 
go  with  Agnew.  It  is  an  important  mission,  and  one  that, 
I  think,  you  will  like  to  be  employed  in.  When  relieved 
by  Becher,  you  will  join  the  Guides  at  Lahore,  and  be 
employed  also  as  assistant  to  the  Resident.  The  sooner 
you  come  the  better." 

Hodson  did  knock  off  work  at  once,  and  hastened  by 
forced  marches  towards  Lahore.  He  was  "  much  in- 
terested in  the  thought  of  going  to  so  new  a  place  as 
Multan, — new,  that  is  to  say,  to  Europeans,  yet  so  im- 
portant from  position  and  commerce.  The  only  draw- 
back is  the  heat,  which  is  notorious  throughout  Western 
India.  I  am  not  aware,  however,  that  it  is  otherwise 
unhealthy.  As  you  may  suppose,  I  am  much  gratified 
by  the  appointment,  both  for  its  own  sake  and  also  as 
evincing  so  very  favourable  and  kindly  a  disposition 
toward  myself  on  the  part  of  the  new  potentate." 

A  merciful  Providence,  however,  saved  Hodson  from 
the  cruel  fate  which  presently  overtook  Mr.  Vans  Agnew 
and  his  military  colleague,  Lieutenant  Anderson,  at 
Multan.  By  the  beginning  of  April  he  had  reached 
Lahore,  where  he  met  with  a  friendly  greeting  from  Sir 
Frederick  and  Lady  Currie,  and  once  more  tasted  the 
delights  of  "  loaf-bread,  arm-chairs,  hats,  and  ladies." 
There  he  found  that  the  arrangement  proposed  by  Currie 
"  had  already  become  matter  of  history,  not  of  fact.  The 
new  one  is  still  better  for  me.  I  am  to  remain  at  Lahore, 
and  be  an  assistant  to  the  Resident,  having  my  Guide 
duties  to  discharge  also  when  Lumsden  arrives  from 
Peshawar  with  the  corps." 

The  new  Political  "  won't  say  anything  of  the  regularity 
or  consistency  of  making  a  man  of  two  and  a  half  years' 
service,  and  who  has  passed  no  examination,  a  political 
officer,  nor  will  we  be  ungrateful  enough  to  say  that  he  is 

D 


50  Major  W.  Hodson 

unfit  for  the  appointment,  but  that  he  should  do  his 
utmost  to  show  that  the  rule  is  more  honoured  in  the 
breach  than  in  the  observance." 

Pending  the  arrival  of  the  Guides  at  Lahore,  Hodson 
threw  himself  with  his  usual  energy  into  the  duties  of  his 
new  employment.  For  six  hours  a-day  he  had  to  sit  in 
court,  "  hearing  petitions  and  appeals  in  all  manner  of 
cases,  civil  and  criminal,  and  in  matters  of  revenue.  .  .  . 
One  must  be  content  with  substantial  justice  as  distin- 
guished from  technical  law.  In  any  point  of  difficulty  one 
has  always  an  older  head  to  refer  to,  and  meantime  one 
has  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  one  is  independent 
and  untrammelled  save  by  a  very  simple  code.  Some 
things,  such  as  sentencing  a  man  to  imprisonment  for 
several  years  for  killing  a  cow,  are  rather  startling  to  one's 
ideas  of  right  and  wrong;  but  then  to  kill  a  cow  is  to 
break  a  law,  and  to  disturb  the  public  peace — perhaps 
cause  bloodshed:  so  the  law  is  vindicated,  and  one's 
conscience  saved." 

What  spare  time  remained  to  him  he  employed  in  finish- 
ing a  map  which  he  had  begun  at  Dinanagar,  in  translating 
official  documents,  and  attending  the  darbars.  "  When 
the  Guides  arrive  on  the  2oth  I  shall  have,"  he  writes,  "  to 
assist  in  drilling  and  instructing  them,  to  say  nothing  of 
seeing  that  their  quarters  are  prepared,  and  everything 
ready  for  them.  I  am  not,  therefore,  idle,  and  only  wish 
I  had  time  to  read." 

Meanwhile  a  storm  was  bursting  which  no  one  in  India 
appears  to  have  foreseen.  On  April  26,  Hodson  writes 
to  his  father  from  Lahore:  "  I  mentioned  to  you  that  Sir 
F.  Currie's  plan  of  sending  me  to  assist  Agnew  at  Multan 
had  been  altered,  and  that  Anderson  had  gone  with  him 
in  my  stead.  At  the  time  I  was  disposed  to  be  disap- 
pointed ;  but  we  never  know  what  is  for  our  good.  In  this 
case  I  should  doubtless  have  incurred  the  horrible  fate 
of  poor  Anderson  and  Agnew.  Both  these  poor  fellows 
have  been  barbarously  murdered  by  the  Multan  troops." 

After  giving  a  detailed  account  of  their  tragic  fate 
and  of  the  treacherous  part  played  by  Mulraj  himself, 
he  adds :  "  The  Sikh  Darbar  profess  their  inability  to 
coerce  their  rebel  subject,  who  is  rapidly  collecting  a 


The  Outbreak,  and  After          5  i 

large  army,  and  strengthening  himself  in  the  proverbially- 
strong  fort  of  Multan.  One  cannot  say  how  it  will  end. 
The  necessary  delay  of  five  months,  till  after  the  rains, 
will  give  time  for  all  the  disaffected  to  gather  together, 
and  no  one  can  say  how  far  the  infection  may  extend. 
The  Sikhs  were  right  in  saying,  '  We  shall  have  one  more 
fight  for  it  yet.'  " 

The  two  Englishmen  had  been  murdered  on  the  zoth 
of  April  1848,  and  a  few  days  later  the  brave  Herbert 
Edwardes,  from  his  frontier  post  beyond  the  Indus,  began 
to  collect  the  levies  whom  he  was  presently  leading  towards 
the  scene  of  an  outbreak  which  erelong  became  the  centre 
of  a  widespread  revolt  against  British  tutelage  over  the 
Punjab.  On  May  7,  Hodson  was  writing  thus  from 
Lahore:  "  I  expect  to  be  busy  in  catching  a  party  of 
rascals  who  have  been  trying  to  pervert  our  sepoys  by 
bribes  and  promises.  We  have  a  clue  to  them,  and  hope 
to  take  them  in  the  act.  We  are  surrounded  here  with 
treachery.  No  man  can  say  who  is  implicated,  or  how 
far  the  treason  has  spread.  The  life  of  no  British  officer 
away  from  Lahore  is  worth  a  week's  purchase.  It  is  a 
pleasant  sort  of  government  to  prop  up,  when  their  head- 
men conspire  against  you,  and  their  troops  desert  you  on 
the  slightest  temptation." 

In  the  same  letter  he  asks  his  brother  to  procure  for 
Lumsden  and  himself  "  a  brace  of  good  helmets  "  that 
would  serve  to  protect  them  equally  against  "  sun  and 
blows";  something  like  the  leathern  helmet,  "light, 
serviceable,  and  neat,"  then  worn  by  the  Prussian  army. 
"  We  don't  want  ornament;  in  fact  the  plainer  the  better, 
as  we  should  always  wear  a  turban  over  them,  but  strong, 
and  light  as  a  hat." 

This  was  the  first  of  many  commissions  intrusted  to 
the  Rev.  George  H.  Hodson  in  connection  with  the  cloth- 
ing and  arming  of  the  new  Guide  Corps.  Lumsden  had 
left  such  matters  almost  entirely  in  his  subaltern's  hands. 
The  two  men  agreed  in  the  choice  of  khaki,  or  dust  colour, 
for  the  uniform  of  the  Guides.  With  regard  to  the  choice 
of  weapons,  Mr.  Hodson  was  requested  to  send  out  300 
carbines  of  a  pattern  to  be  selected  by  himself,  which  to  his. 
thinking  "  seemed  scarcely  a  clerical  business." 


52  Major  W.  Hodson 

When  the  Guides  arrived  at  Lahore  very  few  of  the 
men  had  firearms  of  any  sort.  The  only  weapons  that  any 
of  them  could  boast  of  were  old  flint-muskets  which  had 
been  in  use  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  They 
Tiad  never  been  clothed  in  uniform,  but  wore  their  native 
dresses  of  various  hues  and  shapes. 

The  result  of  these  commissions  proved  so  satisfactory 
that  Sir  Charles  Napier,  who  in  1849  succeeded  Lord 
Gough  as  commander-in-chief,  pronounced  the  Guides 
to  be  the  only  properly  dressed  light  troops  he  had  seen 
in  India. 

The  conspirators  whom  Hodson  had  gone  in  search  of 
were  duly  captured,  and  he  "  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
them  hung  three  days  later."  He  then,  in  his  own  words, 
"  tried  a  slight  fever  as  a  variety  for  two  days."  On  May 
14,  he  "  started  to  bag  the  Rani,  or  queen-mother,  in  her 
abode  beyond  the  Ravi,  she  having  been  convicted  of 
complicity  in  the  designs  of  the  conspirators.  Lumsden 
and  myself  were  deputed  by  the  Resident  to  call  on  her 
and  intimate  that  her  presence  was  urgently  required.  A 
detachment  was  ordered  out  to  support  us,  in  case  any 
resistance  should  be  offered.  Fortunately  it  was  not 
required,  as  the  Rani  complied  at  once  with  our  polite 
request  to  come  along  with  us.  Instead  of  being  taken  to 
Lahore,  as  she  expected,  we  carried  her  off  to  Kana  Kutch, 
on  the  Ferozepore  road,  where  a  party  of  Wheeler's 
Irregulars  had  been  sent  to  receive  her.  It  was  very  hard 
work — a  long  night  march  to  the  fort  (Shaikhopura),  and 
a  fourteen  hours'  ride  across  to  Kana  Kutch,  whence  I 
had  two  hours'  gallop  into  Lahore  to  report  progress, 
making  sixteen  hours  in  the  saddle,  in  May,  when  the 
nights  are  hot." 

A  few  days  later  he  was  off  again,  at  the  head  of  some 
cavalry,  to  try  and  seize  or  disperse  a  body  of  horse  and 
foot  collected  by  a  Sikh  guru,  or  holy  man,  named  Maharaj 
Singh.  "  I  made,"  he  writes  on  June  5,  "  a  tremendous 
round  by  Amritsar,  Bhairowal  Ghat  on  the  Biyas,  and  up 
that  river's  bank  to  Mukerian,  in  the  Jalandhar  Doab, 
whence  I  was  prepared  to  cross  during  the  night  with  a 
party  of  cavalry  and  attack  the  rascals  unawares."  Every 
thing  promised  well  until  Hodson  found  that  the  insurgent 


The  Outbreak,  and  After          53 

leader  had  been  warned  off  by  a  "  rogue  of  a  native  magis- 
trate." Thereupon  he  "  fairly  bolted  across  the  Ravi,  and 
is  now  infesting  the  Doab  between  that  river  and  the 
Chinab.  I  have  scoured  this  part  of  the  country,  which 
my  late  surveys  enabled  me  to  traverse  with  perfect  ease, 
got  possession  of  every  boat  on  the  Ravi  from  Lahore  to 
the  hills,  placed  horsemen  at  every  ferry,  and  have  been 
bullying  the  people  who  supplied  the  saint  with  provisions 
and  arms.  I  have  a  regiment  of  Irregular  Horse  (Skinner's) 
with  me,  and  full  powers  to  summon  more,  if  necessary  j 
from  the  Jalandhar  Doab.  Meantime  a  party  from  Lahore 
are  sweeping  round  to  intercept  the  fellow,  who  is  getting 
strong  by  degrees ;  and  I  am  going  to  dash  across  at  mid- 
night with  a  handful  of  cavalry  and  see  if  I  cannot  beat 
up  the  country  between  this  and  Wazirabad." 

"  I  am  very  well,"  he  adds,  "  hard  at  work,  and  enjoy- 
ing the  thing  very  much.  I  imagine  this  will  be  the  sort 
of  life  we  shall  lead  about  once  a-week  till  the  Punjab  is 
annexed.  Every  native  official  has  fraternised  with  the 
rebels  he  was  ordered  to  catch." 

About  this  time  Hodson  received  a  long  and  charac- 
teristic letter  from  Herbert  Edwardes,  with  whom  he  had 
lately  been  corresponding.  The  letter  was  dated  May 
24,  from  a  small  place  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Indus,  about 
three  marches  from  Dera  Ghazi  Khan.  Edwardes  begins 
by  expressing  his  conviction  that  Sir  F.  Currie  has  "  made 
a  mistake  beyond  all  present  calculation  in  yielding  to  the 
commander- in-chief 's  wish  to  postpone  hostilities  for  five 
months.  Postpone  a  rebellion!  Was  ever  such  a  thing 
heard  of  in  any  government?  Postpone  avenging  the 
blood  of  two  British  officers!  Should  such  a  thing  be 
ever  heard  of  in  British  Asia?  I  read  in  the  papers  of 
enormous  military  preparations.  Editors  puff  the  ad- 
vancing columns.  You  tell  me  of  a  future  25,000  men, 
fifty  siege-guns,  etc.,  etc.,  and  all  for  what?  Forsooth, 
to  do  nothing  for  five  months ! 

"It  is  a  burlesque  upon  politics,  war,  and  govern- 
ment. Give  me  two  of  all  these  prophesied  brigades, 
and  Bahawal  Khan  and  I  will  fight  the  campaign  for 
you  while  you  are  perspiring  behind  tatties  in  Lahore, 
and  bottling  up  your  British  '  indignation '  at  the 


54  Major  W.  Hodson 

slaughter  of  our  countrymen.  Action,  action,  action! 
Promptitude !  these  are  the  watchwords  which  constitute 
ikbal  [prestige],  and  not  the  pusillanimous  prudence  and 
calculating  indignation  which  are  content  to  endure 
public  insult  for  half  a  year.  I  quite  blush  for  our 
position  in  the  native  eye,  and  am  striving  within  my 
own  humble  sphere  to  throw  a  veil  of  little  victories 
over  it.  What  is  so  extraordinary,  I  can  get  no  answer 
from  Sir  F.  C.  to  any  of  my  public  letters  or  demi- 
officials  representing  the  state  of  this  frontier  and  the 
imperative  necessity  of  securing  Bahawal  Khan,  if  Mulraj 
is  to  be  kept  from  overrunning  the  whole  country." 

"  I  have  just  now,"  he  continues,  "  galled  Mulraj  to 
the  quick  by  defeating  his  lieutenant,  Longa  Mai,  at 
Ghazi  Khan,  taking  him  prisoner  with  a  gun,  killing 
Chaitan  Mai  (Longa  Mai's  uncle)  and  forty  others,  in- 
cluding a  Sikh  subadar  of  a  regular  infantry  company. 
This  has  given  us  the  fort  of  Dera  Ghazi  Khan  and  a 
•country  of  eight  lakhs  (£80,000).  The  success  should  be 
followed  up  by  Bahawal  Khan  crossing  the  Satlaj,  my 
crossing  the  Indus,  and  driving  all  Mulraj 's  troops  into 
the  fort,  after  which  you  might  wait  as  many  months 
as  you  chose  with  both  safety  and  dignity  until  you  were 
ready  for  a  siege.  Every  post  I  urge  this  to  the  Resident, 
and  am  quite  sick  of  every  post  bringing  no  reply !  Some 
extraordinary  infatuation  rests  upon  you  all  in  Lahore. 
You  talk  quite  coolly  and  at  ease :  '  Send  away  the  queen  ' 
and  '  breathe  again ' ;  '  trust  I  am  now  getting  over  the 
worst,' — and  argue  yourselves  into  the  belief  that '  Mulraj 
is  in  a  bad  way,'  '  at  a  standstill,'  and,  in  fact,  on  the 
-eve  of  submission!  Clearly  you  are  under  the  thumb 
of  some  awful  traitor  whose  interest  it  is  to  keep  you  in 
the  dark.  Mulraj  is  daily  adding  to  his  means  of  resist- 
ance; digging  up  and  mounting  long-buried  guns;  en- 
listing on  an  average  100  men  per  diem  ;  storming  the 
iort;  clearing  away  houses  round  its  base;  collecting 
revenue,  etc.,  etc.  Is  this  the  sort  of  '  standstill '  you 
all  contemplate  for  five  months  ?  .  .  . 

"  While  I  write  this  the  rebels  are  firing  a  salvo  on  the 
•opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  have  already  fired  nearly 
joo  rounds !  Magazine  is  more  plentiful  with  them  than 


The  Outbreak,  and  After          55 

it  is  with  me.  You  express  a  hope  in  your  letter  that 
the  British  Government  will  act  for  itself,  and  not  prop 
up  a  fallen  dynasty.  In  other  words,  you  hope  we  shall 
seize  the  opportunity  to  annex  the  Punjab.  In  this  I 
cannot  agree  with  you,  for  I  think,  for  all  that  has  yet 
happened,  it  would  be  both  unjust  and  inexpedient. 
The  treaty  we  made  with  the  Sikh  Government  and  people 
cannot  be  forfeited  by  the  treachery  of  a  Gurkha  regiment 
in  Multan,  the  rebellion  of  a  discharged  karddr,  or  the 
treasonable  intrigues  of  the  queen-mother,  who  has  no 
connection  with  the  Sikh  Government  of  her  son." 

Events,  however,  were  clearly  tending  to  justify  the 
policy  which  Hodson  already  deemed  inevitable,  and 
which  Lord  Dalhousie,  the  new  Governor-General,  re- 
solved a  few  months  later  to  carry  out.  It  is  true  that 
the  treaty  of  Bhairowal  had  deprived  the  queen-mother 
of  all  direct  authority  in  public  affairs.  But  her  power 
for  mischief  had  not  been  lessened  either  by  her  seclusion 
at  Shaikhopura  or  her  subsequent  removal  across  the 
Satlaj.  Her  restless  ambition  made  her  the  rallying 
centre  for  all  the  discontented  spirits  in  the  Punjab. 
The  outbreak  at  Multan  was,  in  fact,  the  signal  for  a 
general  Sikh  uprising  against  the  Power  represented  by 
Sir  Frederick  Currie  at  Lahore,  and  by  a  few  British 
officers  scattered  throughout  the  country,  from  Major 
George  Lawrence  at  Peshawar  to  Lieutenant  Edwardes 
in  the  south-west.  In  justice  also  to  Currie  himself  it 
must  be  said  that  Edwardes's  strictures  fell  wide  of  their 
mark.  Before  the  end  of  April  he  had  arranged  for 
the  prompt  despatch  of  Sikh  troops  under  their  own 
sirdars  to  the  scene  of  danger,  rightly  holding,  as  he 
wrote  to  Lord  Dalhousie,  that  "  a  successful  rebellion 
in  Multan  .  .  .  would  kindle  a  flame  through  the  land 
which  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  extinguish." 

On  the  loth  of  May  he  wrote  to  the  Governor-General 
expressing  his  entire  concurrence  with  Lieutenant 
Edwardes  "  in  what  he  says  of  the  importance  of  an 
immediate  move  of  troops  on  Multan,  and  regret  as 
deeply  as  he  or  any  one  can  do,  that  an  expedition  against 
Multan  at  this  season  is  declared  impossible."  J 
1  Punjab  Blue-Book,  1847-1849. 


56  Major  W.  Hodson 

When  Lord  Dalhousie  in  July  granted  the  Resident 
a  free  hand,  Sir  F.  Currie  lost  no  time  in  despatching  a 
British  column  to  the  support  of  Edwardes  and  the 
Nawab  of  Bahawalpur. 

Meanwhile  Hodson  tells  us  in  his  letter  of  July  5,  that 
he  had  been  "  fairly  successful  in  obtaining  information 
of  the  extent  of  the  conspiracy,  which  has  been  keeping 
the  whole  country  in  a  ferment  these  two  months  past. 
All  that  has  occurred  is  clearly  traceable  to  the  Rani, 
now  happily  deported,  and  her  friends,  and  has  been 
carried  out  with  a  fearful  amount  of  the  blackest  treachery 
and  baseness.  There  have  been  stirring  events  since 
I  wrote  last.  Twice  within  a  fortnight  has  Herbert 
Edwardes  fought  and  defeated  the  Multan  rebels  in 
pitched  battles,1  and  has  succeeded,  despite  of  treacherous 
foes  and  doubtful  friends,  in  driving  them  into  the  fort 
of  Multan.  His  success  has  been  only  less  splendid  than 
the  energy  and  courage  which  he  has  shown  throughout, 
especially  that  high  moral  courage  which  defies  responsi- 
bility, risks,  self-interest,  and  all  else,  for  the  good  of  the 
state,  and  which,  if  well  directed,  seems  to  command 
fortune  and  ensure  success." 

Hodson  had  then  been  summoned  back  to  Lahore  to 
take  over  the  command  of  the  Guides  from  Lumsden, 
who  had  been  ordered  down  the  river  towards  Baha- 
walpur. He  himself  had  made  the  journey  of  a  hundred 
miles  from  Dinanagar,  "  with  bag  and  baggage,  in  sixty 
hours,  which,  considering  that  one  can't  travel  at  all  by 
day  and  not  more  than  four  miles  by  night,  required  a 
great  amount  of  exertion  and  perseverance.  It  is  strange," 
he  adds,  "  that  the  natives  always  knock  up  sooner  than 
we  do  on  a  march  like  this.  The  cavalry  were  nine  days 
on  the  road  and  grumbled  then!  I  know  few  things 
more  fatiguing  than,  when  exhausted  by  the  heat  of  the 
day,  to  have  to  mount  at  nightfall  and  ride  slowly  through- 
out the  night,  and  for  the  two  most  disagreeable  hours 
of  a  tropical  day — viz.,  those  after  sunrise." 

The  heat  at  that  time  was  terrible.  One  night,  while 
he  was  making  a  longer  march  than  usual,  a  British 

1  On  June  18  at  Kinairi,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Chinab,  and  on 
July  i  at  Sadusain,  a  few  miles  from  MultSn. 


The  Outbreak,  and  After          57 

regiment  on  its  way  to  Ferozepore  suffered  cruelly  from 
the  same  hot  night-wind  which  had  completely  pros- 
trated himself.  "  It  fell  upon  the  men  as  they  halted 
at  a  well  to  drink;  they  were  fairly  beaten,  and  lay  down 
for  a  few  minutes  to  pant.  When  they  arose  to  continue 
their  march,  a  captain  and  nine  or  ten  men  were  left 
dead  on  the  ground!  It  was  the  simoom  of  Africa  in 
miniature."  l 

1  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  SECOND   SIKH  WAR.      1848-1849 

ALL  through  July  and  August  1848,  the  blaze  of  an 
organised  revolt  spread  wider  and  wider  throughout  the 
Land  of  the  Five  Rivers.  Here  and  there  in  the  out- 
lying districts  a  few  English  officers  still  held  their  ground 
amidst  a  swarm  of  enemies  concealed  or  open.  While 
Edwardes  and  Lake  were  anxiously  watching  the  move- 
ments of  doubtful  Sikh  allies  encamped  beside  them,  and 
were  clearing  the  ground  for  the  force  of  all  arms  with 
which  General  Whish  was  about  to  open  the  regular  siege 
of  Multan,  George  Lawrence  at  Peshawar,  James  Abbott 
in  the  Hazara  highlands,  and  John  Nicholson  in  the 
country  between  Attock  and  Hasan  Abdal,  were  striving 
their  hardest  to  keep  back  the  flowing  tide  of  Sikh  re- 
bellion. In  Lahore  alone  a  strong  British  garrison  over- 
awed the  secret  plotters  and  maintained  the  peace  of  the 
surrounding  districts. 

It  was  from  the  Sikh  capital  that  Hodson  wrote  on 
September  3:  "We  have  had  stirring  times  lately, 
though  I  personally  have  had  little  share  in  them. 
Multan  is  at  last  invested,  and  we  expect  daily  to  hear 
of  its  fall.  Meanwhile  a  new  outbreak  has  occurred  in 
Hazara,  a  wild  hilly  region  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Indus, 
above  Attock,  where  one  of  the  powerful  sirdars  *  has 
raised  the  standard  of  revolt." 

In  the  same  letter  Hodson  confided  to  his  friends  at 
home  the  fact  that  his  countrymen  had  narrowly  escaped 
"  the  effects  of  a  general  and  well-organised  conspiracy 
against  British  supremacy  in  Upper  India.  Our  '  ally  ' 
Gulab  Singh,  the  creature  of  the  treaty  of  1846,  the  hill 
tribes,  the  whole  Punjab,  the  chiefs  of  Rajputana,  and  the 

1  Chatar  Singh,  father  of  Rajah  Sher  Singh,  who  had  been  sent 
•with  a  strong  Sikh  force  to  co-operate  with  Edwardes  against  Mulraj . 


The  Second  Sikh  War  59 

states  round  Ambala  and  Karnal,  and  even  the  King  of 
Kabul,  I  believe,  have  been  for  months  and  months 
securely  plotting,  without  our  having  more  than  the 
merest  hints  of  local  disturbances,  against  the  supremacy 
of  the  British  Government.  They  were  to  unite  for  one 
vast  effort  and  drive  us  back  upon  the  Jumna.  This 
was  to  be  again  the  boundary  of  British  India.  The 
rising  in  Multan  was  to  be  the  signal.  All  was  prepared, 
when  a  quarrel  between  Mulraj  and  the  treacherous  khan, 
Singh  Man,  who  was  sent  to  commence  the  war,  spoilt 
their  whole  scheme.  The  proud  Rajput,  Gulab  Singh, 
refused  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  a  Multan  merchant,  and 
the  merchant  would  not  yield  to  the  soldier.  We  have 
seen  the  mere  ebullitions  of  the  storm,  the  bubbles  which 
float  at  the  surface.  I  believe  that  now  we  are  safe  from 
a  general  rising,  and  that  the  fall  of  Multan  will  put  a 
stop  to  mischief.  .  .  .  Absolute  supremacy  has  been, 
I  think,  long  demonstrated  to  be  our  only  safety  among 
wild  and  treacherous  races.  Moderation,  in  the  modern 
sense,  is  the  greatest  of  all  weakness." 

Early  in  September  our  guns  fired  their  first  salvo 
against  the  walls  of  Multan.  By  the  middle  of  the 
month,  however,  Sher  Singh,  whose  loyalty  had  long 
been  suspected,  had  marched  off  at  the  head  of  5000 
Sikh  troops,  and  six  guns,  to  make  common  cause  with 
Mulraj,  and  proclaim  a  kind  of  holy  war  against  the  cow- 
killing  infidels  who  had  imprisoned  his  queen,  and  sat 
in  the  high  places  once  filled  by  the  barons  and  coun- 
cillors of  Ranjit  Singh.  Owing  to  his  defection,  General 
Whish  found  himself  compelled  to  raise  for  that  present 
the  siege  of  Multan  and  await  the  arrival  of  further 
reinforcements. 

In  this  state  of  affairs  it  was  deemed  advisable  at 
Lahore  to  get  secure  possession  of  the  strong  fort  of 
Govindgarh,  overlooking  the  populous  city  of  Amritsar. 
"  I  have  just  despatched  every  available  Guide  to  try 
and  get  quietly  into  the  far-famed  fort  of  Gavindgarh, 
and  hope  in  a  few  hours  to  hear  of  their  success.  They 
have  forty  friends  inside  and  only  a  few  score  wavering 
enemies." 

A  few  days  later  he  writes :  "  My  Guides  have  covered 


60  Major  W.  Hodson 

themselves  with  glory  (and  dust)  by  the  way  in  which 
they  got  into,  and  got  possession  of,  the  famed  fort  of 
Govindgarh.  A  hundred  of  my  men,  under  a  native 
officer, — a  fine  lad  of  about  twenty,  whom  I  have  petted 
a  good  deal, — went  up  quietly  to  the  gates  on  pretence 
of  escorting  four  State  prisoners  whom  I  had  put  in  irons 
for  the  occasion,  were  allowed  to  get  in,  and  then  threw 
up  their  caps  and  took  possession  of  the  gateway,  despite 
the  scowls,  and  threats,  and  all  but  open  resistance  of 
the  Sikh  garrison.  A  day  afterwards  a  regiment  marched 
from  Lahore  and  went  into  garrison  there,  and  so  Ranjit 
Singh's  treasure-fort  is  fairly  in  our  hands."  The  effect 
of  this  timely  movement  was  declared  by  Lord  Dalhousie, 
who  had  been,  indeed,  the  first  to  suggest  it,  "  to  have 
placed  us  in  a  commanding  position  in  the  most  disaffected 
district  in  the  Punjab."  l 

Before  the  close  of  September,  Hodson  with  a  party 
of  his  Guides  was  encamped  at  Ramnagar  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Chinab,  where  he  hoped  to  meet  the  wife 
and  children  of  Major  George  Lawrence  and  escort  them 
safely  to  Lahore.  On  learning  the  news  of  Sher  Singh's 
treachery,  Major  George  Lawrence  had  sent  off  from 
Peshawar  Mrs.  Lawrence  and  her  two  little  children  under 
the  charge  of  Sultan  Muhammad  Khan,  an  Afghan  chief, 
who  had  sworn  upon  the  Koran  to  carry  them  unharmed 
to  the  British  Residency. 

This  man,  however,  proved  to  be  a  traitor  of  the 
darkest  Afghan  dye.  He  showed  his  gratitude  to  his  old 
benefactor,  Henry  Lawrence,  by  detaining  the  brother's 
family  under  strict  guard  in  his  own  castle  at  Kohat, 
whence  some  weeks  later  they  were  transferred  as 
hostages  to  the  camp  of  his  fellow-traitor,  the  wily  old 
sirdar,  Chatar  Singh.  Hodson  therefore,  after  six  days' 
waiting  about  Ramnagar,  found  that  he  had  gone,  like 
John  Nicholson  and  Reynell  Taylor,  on  a  bootless  errand. 
He  was  suddenly  recalled  to  Lahore  by  an  order  which 
reached  him  on  the  evening  of  the  5th.  "  I  started," 
he  says,  "  at  sunset,  and  pushing  my  way  on  various 
borrowed  steeds  across  that  dreary  region  during  the 
night,  accompanied  by  a  single  camel-rider,  I  reached 
1  Punjab  Blue-Book,  1847-1849. 


The  Second  Sikh  War  6 1 

Lahore,  a  distance  of  seventy  miles,  by  nine  the  following 
morning." 

On  the  8th  he  was  "  off  again  at  daybreak  on  a  longer 
journey  still,  having  to  cross  the  country  to  Brigadier 
Wheeler's  camp  in  the  Jalandhar  Doab,  to  convey  orders 
to  him  relative  to  the  reduction  of  two  rebellious  forts 
in  the  Doab  between  the  Ravi  and  Biyas.  A  '  grind  '  of 
some  twenty-six  hours  on  camel-back,  with  the  necessary 
stoppages,  took  me  to  the  camp,  whence  (because  I  had 
not  had  enough)  I  recrossed  the  Biyas  the  same  night, 
after  examining  and  reporting  on  the  state  of  the  ferries 
by  which  the  troops  were  to  follow  me.  This  time  I 
was  escorted  by  a  troop  of  Irregular  Horse,  being  thereby, 
according  to  my  estimation  of  Sikh  prowess,  rendered 
tolerably  independent." 

Next  morning  he  marched  to  the  fort  of  Rangar  Nagal, 
some  fourteen  miles  from  the  right  bank  of  the  Biyas. 
His  approach  was  greeted  by  a  fire  of  matchlocks  and 
wall-pieces,  which  enabled  him  to  mark  the  exact  range 
of  the  enemy's  guns.  He  "  lost  no  time  in  getting  the 
horsemen  into  a  secure  position  (which  means,  one 
equally  good  for  fighting  or  running  away),  and  advanced 
under  shelter  of  the  trees  and  sugar-canes  to  within  easy 
distance  of  the  fort.  Hence  I  despatched  a  message  to 
the  rebels,  to  say  that  if  they  did  not  come  to  reason 
within  an  hour  they  should  have  no  choice  but  that 
between  cold  steel  or  the  gallows.  The  hour  elapsed 
without  result,  so  mentally  consigning  the  garrison  to 
annihilation,  I  set  to  work  to  reconnoitre  the  ground 
round  the  fort.  This  accomplished,  with  no  further 
interruption  than  a  shower  of  unpleasant  bullets  when 
I  ventured  too  near,  I  sat  down  and  drew  a  little  pencil 
plan  of  the  ground  and  fort,  despatched  a  trooper  with 
it  to  the  brigadier,  and  then  retired  to  a  little  village 
about  a  mile  off  for  the  night.  Another  day  and  night 
passed  in  this  precarious  fashion  without  (as  is  my  usual 
fate)  servants,  clothes,  or  traps,  until  at  length  my  own 
men  (Guides)  arrived  from  Lahore  with  my  baggage  and 
horses.  I  could  now  muster  100  rifles  and  80  horse- 
men, so  we  set  to  work  to  invest  the  place,  being  the 
only  way  to  render  the  escape  of  the  rebels  difficult  or 


62  Major  W.  Hodson 

impossible.  The  fort,  though  very  small,  was  immensely 
strong,  and  well  garrisoned  with  desperadoes,  and  we  had 
sharp  work  of  it  during  the  two  nights  and  day  which 
elapsed  before  the  brigadier  appeared  with  his  troops. 
By  keeping  my  men  scattered  about  in  parties,  under 
cover,  the  superiority  of  their  weapons  enabled  them  to 
gall  the  defenders  of  the  fort  whenever  they  showed 
their  heads,  day  or  night,  and  whenever  they  made  a 
sally  they  got  driven  back  with  the  loss  of  one  or  two  of 
their  companions.  At  last  the  brigadier  appeared, 
pounded  the  place  with  his  guns  during  the  day,  and 
let  the  garrison  escape  at  night." 

The  following  week  was  spent  in  the  work  of  destroy- 
ing the  empty  fort,  by  means  of  forty-one  mines  loaded 
in  all  with  8000  Ib.  of  powder.  Hodson's  services  on 
this  occasion  were  gratefully  acknowledged  by  Brigadier 
Wheeler  in  his  despatch  of  October  15:  "Lieutenant 
W.  S.  Hodson,  with  his  detachment  of  the  corps  of 
Guides,  has  done  most  excellent  service,  and  by  his  daring 
boldness,  and  that  of  his  men,  gained  the  admiration  of  all." 

Wheeler's  next  movement  was  directed  against  the 
fort  of  Morari,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Ravi,  a  few  miles 
north-west  of  Dinanagar.  He  had  hoped  that  Major 
Fisher,  acting  in  concert  with  Hodson,  would  be  in  time 
to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  enemy;  but  Fisher  was  too 
late  for  such  a  purpose.  On  the  night  of  the  24th  the 
rebels,  says  Hodson,  "  bolted  before  he  [the  brigadier] 
fired  a  shot.  ...  I  have  had  loads  of  work,"  he  adds, 
"  what  with  soldiering,  providing  supplies  for  the  force, 
and  all  the  multifarious  duties  which  come  on  the  shoulders 
of  a  '  political '  out  here.  I  am  quite  well,  and  the 
weather  is  lovely,  so  work  is  easy  comparatively,  and 
an  active  life  like  this  is,  as  you  know,  my  particular 
weakness." 

In  the  last  days  of  October  the  leading  brigades  of 
Gough's  army  of  the  Punjab  had  marched  past  Lahore 
across  the  Ravi  to  the  camping-ground  at  Shahdara, 
where,  on  November  3,  7000  good  troops  were  assembled, 
eager  to  move  forward  under  the  best  of  Gough's  cavalry 
leaders,  Brigadier-General  Cureton.  By  the  2ist,  Lord 
Gough  himself  was  encamped  ten  miles  from  Ramnagar, 


The  Second  Sikh  War  63 

at  the  head  of  some  16,000  troops  of  all  arms,  preparing 
to  drive  the  enemy  across  the  Chinab.  Hodson  had 
hoped  to  cross  the  Ravi  and  join  the  commander-in-chief. 
"  We  want  Sir  Charles  Napier  sadly,"  he  wrote.  "  What 
with  the  incapacity  shown  at  Multan,  and  the  dilatory 
proceedings  at  headquarters,  our  reputation  is  suffering 
cruelly,  and  every  one  knows  that  that  is  a  stain  only  to 
be  dyed  out  in  blood.  Every  week's  delay  adds  thousands 
to  our  present  foes  and  future  victims."  But  his  energies 
were  still  "  confined  to  a  space  bounded  by  the  Chinab 
and  the  Biyas,  and  a  line  drawn  east  and  west  through 
Amritsar  and  Lahore.  Nearly  the  whole  of  this  vast 
tract  of  country  has  been  under  my  sole  charge.  I  have 
had  also  to  feed  an  army  daily  of  3000  odd  fighting  menr 
2000  odd  horses,  and  14,000  to  15,000  camp  followers. 
Also  to  take  care  of  and  work  my  Guides;  to  point  out 
the  haunts  and  obtain  information  of  the  strength  of 
'  the  enemy  '  and  give  him  over  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  fire  and  sword." 

On  the  8th  of  November  he  marched  from  Dinanagar 
to  overtake  Wheeler's  column  and  accompany  it  across 
the  Ravi.  On  reaching  that  river  he  tried  in  vain  to 
persuade  the  brigadier  to  march  against  a  party  of  insur- 
gents who  were  only  fourteen  miles  off.  Wheeler  was 
intent  on  pushing  on  to  join  the  main  army.  About 
half  way  on  the  march  towards  Ramnagar,  Hodson  "  rode 
over  to  Lahore  and  talked  to  Sir  F.  Currie,  who  was  just 
despatching  an  express  to  me  about  these  very  people 
we  had  left  unattacked  two  days  before.  He  sent  me  off 
there  and  then  to  see  the  commander-in-chief,  who  was 
very  polite;  asked  my  opinion  (and  acted  on  it  too!); 
told  me  all  his  plans  for  carrying  on  the  war ;  and  on  my 
telling  him  the  facts  of  the  case,  sent  an  order  to  the 
brigadier  to  retrace  his  steps  and  attack  the  party  he  had 
passed  by  at  once,  with  something  very  like  a  rap  over 
the  knuckles." 

After  a  delay  of  several  days,  caused  by  a  counter- 
order  to  reinforce  General  Colin  Campbell,  Wheeler  was 
allowed  to  march  towards  the  fort  of  Kalallwala,  in  the 
Rechna  Doab,1  not  far  from  Pathankot. 

1  The  Doab  between  the  Ravi  and  the  Chinab. 


64  Major  W.  Hodson 

By  the  2otb,  Wheeler's  force  had  got  within  two  marches 
of  the  place  aforesaid.  In  spite  of  Hodson's  urgent 
entreaties,  the  brigadier  was  for  moving  forward  so  slowly 
that  Hodson  felt  himself  "  compelled  to  out-manoeuvre 
him  by  a  bold  stroke."  On  the  following  morning  he 
pushed  on  ahead  with  his  Guides  about  ten  miles  to  a 
fort  held  by  a  doubtful  Sikh  sirdar.  He  had  with  him 
only  100  men,  while  the  enemy  "  was  only  eight  miles 
off  with  4000 — rabble,  to  be  sure,  and  fellows  who  have 
no  heart  for  fighting." 

In  a  moment  Hodson's  mind  was  made  up,  and  here 
he  must  tell  his  own  story:  "  I  therefore  '  boned  '  the 
chief's  two  confidential  servants,  who  were  in  his  dwelling- 
house  outside  the  fort,  and  taking  one  on  each  side  of 
me,  walked  up  to  the  gateway  and  demanded  admission; 
they  hesitated  and  made  excuses.  I  significantly  hinted 
that  my  two  companions  should  be  responsible  if  a  shot 
was  fired ;  the  stout  Sikh  heart  failed,  and  I  was  admitted. 
My  proceeding  was  justified,  and  rendered  most  oppor- 
tune, by  the  discovery  that  the  garrison  were  preparing 
munitions  of  war,  mounting  guns,  and  looking  saucy. 
I  turned  them  out  by  the  same  means  as  I  had  gained 
admittance — viz.,  by  hinting  that  if  any  resistance  was 
made  the  headmen  by  my  side  were  doomed.  Putting  in 
sixteen  of  my  Guides  to  hold  it  until  further  orders,  I 
took  up  my  quarters  outside  for  the  night,  and  prepared 
to  attack  another  small  mud  fort  near  at  hand  in  the 
morning. 

"  However,  my  friends  ran  away  in  the  night  in  a 
fright,  and  thus  I  had  opened  the  road  to  Kalallwala 
without  firing  a  shot." 

On  the  morning  of  the  22nd,  Hodson  resumed  his 
march,  sending  a  messenger  back  to  the  brigadier  begging 
him  to  come  on  with  all  possible  speed  to  his  help.  The 
brigadier,  he  writes,  "  was  dreadfully  angry,  but  came  on 
like  a  good  boy !  When  within  a  mile  or  so  of  the  fort  I 
halted  my  party  to  allow  his  column  to  get  up  nearer, 
and  as  soon  as  I  could  see  it,  moved  on  quietly.  The 
ruse  told  to  perfection:  thinking  they  had  only  100  men 
and  myself  to  deal  with,  the  Sikhs  advanced  in  strength, 
thirty  to  one,  to  meet  me,  with  colours  flying  and  drums 


The  Second  Sikh  War  65 

beating.  Just  then  a  breeze  sprang  up,  the  dust  blew 
aside,  and  the  long  line  of  horsemen  coming  on  rapidly 
behind  my  party  burst  upon  their  senses.  They  turned 
instantly  and  made  for  the  fort,  so  leaving  my  men  to 
advance  quietly  after  them,  I  galloped  up  to  the  brigadier, 
pointed  out  the  flying  Sikhs,  explained  their  position,  and 
begged  him  to  charge  them." 

The  brigadier  "  melted  from  his  wrath  and  told  two 
regiments  of  Irregulars  to  follow  my  guidance.  On  we 
went  at  the  gallop,  cut  in  amongst  the  fugitives,  and 
punished  them  fearfully.  The  unfortunate  wretches  had 
cause  to  rue  the  day  they  turned  rebels,  for  we  left  them 
thickly  on  the  ground  as  we  swept  along.  I  have  never 
charged  with  cavalry  before,  or  come  so  directly  into 
hand-to-hand  conflict  with  the  Sikh,  save  of  course  in 
the  trenches  at  Sobraon.  About  300  to  400  escaped 
into  the  fort,  while  the  remainder  threw  down  their  arms 
and  dispersed  over  the  country." 

The  remnant  of  the  garrison  fled  in  the  night,  their 
loss  in  slain  alone  during  the  attack  and  the  subsequent 
pursuit  amounting  to  300.  From  the  village  adjacent  to 
the  fort  a  large  body  of  the  enemy  had  been  dislodged, 
wrote  the  brigadier,  "  by  the  detachment  of  the  corps 
of  Guides  in  good  style,  killing  several."  1  "  Since  then," 
writes  Hodson,  "  we  have  been  pursuing  other  parties, 
but  only  came  into  collision  with  them  to  a  very  trifling 
extent  once.  They  had  learnt  how  to  run  away  beauti- 
fully. The  brigadier  has  grown  quite  active,  and  very 
fond  of  me  since  that  day  at  Kalallwala,  though  he  had 
the  wit  to  see  how  very  '  brown  I  had  done  him  '  by  making 
him  march  two  marches  in  one." 

Hodson  himself  received  the  special  thanks  of  Brigadier- 
General  Hugh  Wheeler,  "  not  only  for  his  services  in  the 
field,  but  for  the  information  with  which  he  furnished 
him." 

In  the  letter  from  which  we  have  already  quoted, 
Hodson  draws  a  lively  picture  of  the  duties  devolved 
upon  him  as  a  political  officer  in  command  of  a  body 
of  the  Guides:  "  Item,  fighting  personally;  item,  to 
destroy  six  forts,  and  sell  by  auction  the  property  therein 
1  Punj&b  Blue-Book,  1847-1849. 

E 


66  Major  W.  Hodson 

found;  item,  to  be  civil  to  all  comers;  item,  to  report 
all  the  said  doings  daily  to  Government;  item,  to  march 
ten  to  twenty  miles  a-day  at  a  slow  pace;  item,  to  eat, 
drink,  dress,  and  sleep,  to  rest  oneself  from  all  these 
labours.  In  the  above  compendious  epitome  of  the  work 
of  that  much-abused  and  ill-used  class  called  '  politicals  ' 
in  India,  you  will,  I  trust,  observe  no  vacant  places  or 
hiati  in  which  you  would  expect  to  see  inscribed,  '  Item, 
to  write  to  one's  friends.'  " 

Meanwhile  several  bands  of  insurgents  continued  ravag- 
ng  the  country  between  the  Ravi  and  Chinab.  Hodson 
dashed  at  these  marauders  whenever  he  got  the  chance. 
Before  the  middle  of  December,  as  soon  as  he  had  estab- 
lished some  kind  of  order  about  Dinanagar,  he  was  once 
more  across  the  Ravi  on  the  track  of  a  rebel  party  headed 
by  two  petty  Sikh  sirdars,  who  had  been  busily  plunder- 
ing the  country  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  near  Sialkot.  On 
the  evening  of  the  i5th  he  learned  that  some  500  of 
the  insurgents  were  within  his  reach  at  Gamrola,  near 
Zafarwal,  some  twenty-five  miles  off.  There  were  so 
many  spies  in  his  camp  that  he  allowed  his  men  to  turn 
in  as  usual  for  the  night.  Soon  after  midnight,  however, 
he  aroused  his  little  party  and  "  got  them  under  arms 
and  off  before  any  one  was  aware  of  our  move.  I  had 
with  me  100  of  my  Guides  and  15  sowars." 

Marching  all  night,  he  came  upon  the  insurgents  at 
daybreak.  Halting  the  Guides  under  cover  of  a  small 
wooded  village,  he  himself  went  forward  to  reconnoitre, 
and  "  found  the  enemy  drawn  up  to  the  number  of  from 
150  to  200  horse  and  foot  on  the  north  side  of  Gamrola, 
between  the  village  and  a  large  tank."  Just  then,  how- 
ever, they  were  joined  by  a  party  from  Baddi-Pind,  and 
the  whole  fell  back  to  the  bank  of  a  wide  nullah  which 
ran  along  their  rear.  Besides  his  fifteen  sowars  he  was 
now  accompanied  by  a  party  of  Sikh  horsemen,  of  whose 
fidelity  he  was  more  than  doubtful.  In  order  at  once  to 
get  rid  of  these  and  mislead  the  enemy  as  to  the  strength 
of  his  own  party,  Hodson  instructed  them  to  prevent 
the  enemy  from  getting  into  the  villages  or  hiding  among 
the  sugar-canes  on  his  flanks. 

He  was  still  awaiting  the  arrival  of  his  Guide  infantry, 


The  Second  Sikh  War  67 

who  were  now  close  at  hand.  Within  five  minutes, 
however,  the  insurgents  "  moved  off  sulkily  like  a  herd 
of  frightened  deer,  half  alarmed,  half  in  doubt.  I  saw 
at  once  that  there  was  but  one  chance  left,  and  deter- 
mined to  go  at  them  as  I  was,  though  15  to  150  is  an 
imprudent  attempt."  Crossing  the  nullah-bed  at  a  trot, 
Hodson's  horsemen  fired  one  volley.  Then  throwing  their 
matchlocks  aside,  they  dashed  at  the  retiring  enemy. 
"  The  greater  part  instantly  fled  precipitately,  but  a 
number  of  Akalies  [or  fanatics],  seeing  that  they  had 
no  chance  of  escape  on  foot,  turned  and  fought  with 
desperation.  One  man  in  particular  succeeded  in  keep- 
ing four  sowars  at  bay  for  some  minutes,  and  was  only 
mastered  after  a  severe  struggle." 1 

Such  is  the  story  told  by  Hodson  in  his  official 
letter  to  his  political  chief,  Sir  F.  Currie.  "  The  affair 
at  Baddi-Pind,"  wrote  Sir  F.  Currie  to  the  Governor- 
General,  "  was  a  most  gallant  one,  far  more  so  than 
Lieutenant  Hodson's  modest  statement  in  his  letter 
would  lead  one  to  suppose.  I  have  had  accounts  of  it 
from  parties  who  were  eye-witnesses  to  the  personal 
gallantry  and  energy  of  Lieutenant  Hodson,  by  whose 
hand,  in  single  conflict,  the  Akali  fell,  after  he  had  beaten 
off  four  of  the  sowars  of  the  i5th  Irregulars ;  and  to  whose 
bold  activity,  indefatigable  exertions,  and  the  admirable 
arrangements  made  by  him,  with  the  small  means  at  his 
disposal,  the  successful  issue  of  this  excursion  is  to  be 
attributed."  2 

The  following  passage  in  one  of  Hodson's  private 
letters  will  serve  to  fill  up  the  outline  thus  sketched 
by  the  Resident  himself:  "The  mounted  men  got  off, 
but  a  party  of  Akalies  on  foot  stopped  and  fought  us, 
in  some  instances  very  fiercely.  One  fine  bold  '  Nihung  ' 
beat  off  four  sowars  one  after  another,  and  kept  them 
all  at  bay.  I  then  went  at  him  myself,  fearing  that 
he  would  kill  one  of  them.  He  instantly  rushed  to  meet 

1  Punjab  Blue-Book. 

2  Ibid.     With  regard  to  this  affair  Sir  H.  Lawrence  had  written 
to  Sir  F.  Currie:    "  Mr.  Hodson's  affair  seems  to  be  a  most  gallant 
one,  very  modestly  told.     Pray  make  an  official  report  of  it,  that 
he  may  get  the  kudos  which  is  due  to  him;  his  name  has  often  been, 
before  me,  and  always  honourably." 


68  Major  W.  Hodson 

me  like  a  tiger,  closed  with  me,  yelling,  '  Wah  Guru-ke 
jai! '  and  accompanying  each  shout  with  a  terrific  blow 
of  his  tulwar.  I  guarded  the  three  or  four  first,  but 
he  pressed  so  closely  to  my  horse's  rein  that  I  could  not 
get  a  fair  cut  in  return.  At  length  I  pressed  in  my 
turn  upon  him  so  sharply  that  he  missed  his  blow,  and 
I  caught  his  tulwar  back-handed  with  my  bridle-hand, 
wrenched  it  from  him,  and  cut  him  down  with  the  right, 
having  received  no  further  injury  than  a  severe  cut  across 
the  fingers.  I  never  beheld  such  desperation  and  fury 
in  my  life.  It  was  not  human  scarcely." 

By  that  time  the  rest  of  the  insurgents  had  got  so 
far  away  that  Hodson  did  not  deem  it  prudent  to  chase 
them  any  farther  "  in  the  face  of  a  hostile  population, 
who  came  out  of  the  villages,  with  arms  in  their  hands, 
which,  though  nominally  brought  against  the  insurgents, 
might  at  any  moment  have  been  turned  against  us.  My 
sepoys,  too,  had  followed  me  at  a  run  for  more  than  a 
mile,  which  in  addition  to  their  long  march  had  exhausted 
them  greatly."  He  was  therefore  obliged  to  halt,  "  not 
without  a  growl  at  General  Wheeler  for  having  left  me 
without  any  men.  We  had  killed  one  more  than  our  own 
number,  however,  and  five  more  were  so  severely  wounded 
that  they  were  removed  on  charpoys." 

The  fort  of  Baddi-Pind  was  levelled  to  the  ground. 
Next  morning  at  daybreak  Hodson  continued  the  pursuit. 
Shortly  after  noon  he  sighted  a  body  of  insurgents  near 
Cherauk,  but  they  had  gained  so  long  a  start  of  him 
that  after  a  gallop  of  three  miles  he  was  fain  to  give 
up  the  chase.  "  I  regret  extremely,"  he  wrote  to  the 
Resident,  "  that  I  had  not  had  a  larger  party  of  cavalry 
with  me.  Had  I  been  accompanied  by  even  a  single 
troop,  I  think  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  whole 
of  the  leaders  of  these  bands  of  marauders  would  have 
been  either  killed  or  taken  prisoners." 

The  enemy,  however,  had  no  heart  for  further  fighting. 
In  the  same  letter  of  December  23,  from  which  I  have 
just  quoted,  Hodson  was  able  to  report  to  Sir  Frederick 
Currie  that  after  his  last  encounter  they  "  only  halted 
for  a  few  hours  at  a  time  to  collect  their  scattered 
followers  and  cook  their  food,  and  hurried  to  the  upper 


The  Second  Sikh  War  69 

ferries  of  the  Chinab,  which  the  last  of  the  party  crossed 
early  on  the  2oth.  I  have  ascertained  satisfactorily  that 
there  are  no  insurgents  in  arms  on  this  side  the  Chinab, 
and  I  have  made  some  progress  in  reducing  these  districts 
to  order."  1 

Nor  was  Lord  Dalhousie  slow  on  his  part  to  indorse 
Currie's  eulogies  of  his  dashing  subaltern.  Addressing 
the  Resident  through  his  own  secretary,  Sir  Henry 
Elliot,  on  January  14,  1849,  the  Governor-General  con- 
veyed to  Lieutenant  Hodson  "  the  strong  expression  of 
his  satisfaction  with  his  conduct,  and  with  the  mode  in 
which  he  discharges  whatever  duty  is  intrusted  to  him. 
The  Governor-General  has  had  frequent  occasions  of 
noticing  the  activity,  energy,  and  intelligence  of  his  pro- 
ceedings, and  he  has  added  to  the  exercise  of  the  same 
qualities  on  this  occasion  an  exhibition  of  personal 
gallantry  which  the  Governor-General  has  much  pleasure 
in  recording  and  applauding,  although  Lieutenant  Hodson 
has  modestly  refrained  from  bringing  it  to  notice  himself. 
The  Governor-General  offers  to  Lieutenant  Hodson  his 
best  thanks  for  these  services."  2 

Meanwhile  events  in  the  Punjab  were  steadily  advanc- 
ing towards  the  issue  which  Hodson  had  been  among 
the  first  to  foresee.  By  the  middle  of  December  the 
bulk  of  Cough's  army  was  halted  some  miles  beyond 
the  Chinab  about  Hela,  awaiting  Dalhousie's  permission 
to  attack  Sher  Singh,  who  had  fallen  back  from  the  line 
of  the  Chinab  to  a  strongly  intrenched  position  near  the 
Jhilam,  behind  the  jungles  of  Chilianwala.  Peshawar 
was  already  occupied  by  Dost  Muhammad's  Afghans. 
James  Abbott  still  held  his  own  in  the  wilds  of  Hazara. 
But  thousands  of  good  Sikh  troops  were  marching  from 
the  Indus  to  the  Jhilam  under  the  standard  of  Sher 
Singh's  father,  Chatar  Singh.  Nicholson's  efforts  to 
hinder  his  advance  had  proved  utterly  futile  for  want  of 
timely  aid  from  Cough's  troops. 

In  the  last  days  of  December,  General  Whish  found 
himself  strong  enough  to  press  forward  the  siege  of 
Multan  with  so  much  vigour  that  by  January  2,  1849, 
the  whole  of  the  city  outside  the  citadel  had  fallen  into 

1  Punjab  Blue-Book.  *  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse, 


70  Major  W.  Hodson 

his  hands.  On  the  3rd  of  the  same  month  the  strong 
fortress  of  Attock  opened  its  gates  to  the  Amir  of 
Afghanistan,  and  its  brave  defender,  Lieutenant  Herbert, 
subsequently  became,  like  George  Lawrence,  a  prisoner 
in  the  hands  of  Chatar  Singh. 

The  good  news  from  Multan  induced  Lord  Dalhousie, 
then  staying  at  Ferozepore,  to  loosen  somewhat  the 
curb  he  had  placed  upon  his  impetuous  commander- 
in-chief.  What  use  the  brave  old  soldier  made  of  his 
chief's  concession  may  be  seen  from  the  following  passage 
in  Hodson's  letter  of  January  18:  "We  have  just  re- 
ceived intelligence  of  another  great  fight  between  the 
army  under  Lord  Gough  and  the  Sikhs,  in  which  the 
latter,  though  beaten,  seem  to  have  had  every  advantage 
given  away  to  them.  Our  loss  has  been  severe,  and  the 
mismanagement  very  disgraceful,  yet  it  will  be  called 
a  victory  and  lauded  accordingly.  Oh,  for  one  month 
of  Sir  Charles  Napier!  " 

The  bloody  battle  of  Chilianwala,  which  resulted  in 
a  doubtful  victory,  purchased  at  a  terrible  cost,  was 
fought  on  January  13.  About  a  fortnight  earlier  Lumsden 
and  Hodson  had  marched  off  with  a  strong  party  of  the 
Guides,  horse  and  foot,  in  pursuit  of  an  insurgent  force 
moving  along  the  foot  of  the  hills  that  border  the  districts 
of  Nurpur  and  Pathankot.  So  swift  and  secret  were  the 
movements  of  the  Guides  that  parties  of  Sikhs  were 
caught  in  the  act  of  cooking  their  dinners  under  a  clump 
of  trees.  At  sight  of  Hodson's  advancing  infantry  they 
turned  and  fled.  But  Lumsden's  horsemen  were  close 
upon  their  heels.  In  spite  of  the  broken  and  marshy 
ground,  the  runaways  were  cut  up  almost  to  a  man. 
"  So  bad,"  says  Hodson  in  his  report  of  the  affair,  "  was 
the  nature  of  the  country  over  which  he  [Lumsden] 
followed  them,  that  at  one  time  more  than  half  the 
horses  of  his  troops  were  down,  pursuers  and  pursued 
rolling  together  in  desperate  strife  in  the  middle  of  the 
deep  marshes.  From  thirty  to  forty  of  the  enemy  were 
killed  or  mortally  wounded,  among  whom  we  were  able 
to  identify  beyond  doubt  the  insurgent  leaders,  Ganda 
Singh,  and  his  major,  Sukha  Singh."1  The  loss  of  the 
1  Punjab  Blue-Book. 


The  Second  Sikh  War  j  i 

victors  in  this  dashing  affair  was  confined  to  one  horse 
killed  and  one  wounded.  As  a  matter  of  course  they 
received  the  thanks  of  the  Indian  Government. 

A  few  days  later  Hodson  was  again  in  the  field,  em- 
ployed on  behalf  of  General  Wheeler  in  hunting  after 
Ram  Singh,  who  was  again  trying  to  raise  the  hill  country 
north  of  Jalandhar  against  its  new  masters.  "  I  have 
been  day  and  night  at  work,"  he  writes,  "  examining  the 
hills  and  rivers,  trying  fords,  leading  columns,  and  doing 
all  the  multifarious  duties  thrust  on  that  unhappy  com- 
bination of  hard  work,  a  '  Guide  '  and  '  Political '  in  one." 
The  rebel  leader  was  found  to  be  strongly  posted  on 
the  Dalla  mountain.  On  the  i5th,  Hodson,  acting  on 
Wheeler's  instructions,  led  his  Guides  and  a  wing  of  the 
3rd  Native  Infantry  up  the  right  bank  of  the  Ravi  with 
a  view  to  recross  the  river  and  move  up  to  a  high  peak 
of  the  mountain,  while  two  other  columns  advanced  from 
opposite  quarters  to  the  attack.  "  We  had  to  march," 
writes  Hodson,  "  by  a  circuitous  route  across  the  hills; 
darkness  came  on,  accompanied  by  dreadful  rain,  the 
rivers  rose  and  were  impassable,  and  after  twenty-four 
hours  of  the  most  trying  work  I  ever  experienced,  in 
which  cold,  hunger,  and  wet  were  our  enemies,  we  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  our  ground  just  in  time  to  be  too 
late."  On  the  morning  of  the  i6th  the  remaining  columns 
succeeded  in  storming  the  position  with  no  great  loss. 
Ram  Singh  once  more  fled  across  the  Ravi,  with  only  two 
followers;  and  Lieutenant  Hodson,  in  the  words  of 
Wheeler's  despatch,  "  has  entitled  himself  to  the  sincere 
thanks  of  the  brigadier-general  for  his  endeavours  to 
lead  a  column  to  turn  the  enemy's  position,  which  failed 
only  from  causes  which  rendered  success  impracti- 
cable." 

On  January  31,  Hodson's  amazing  energy  saved  him 
from  an  untimely  end.  He  had  gone  into  Lahore  for  a 
few  days  to  see  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  who  had  just  resumed 
his  post  as  Resident.  He  left  Lahore  on  the  morning  of 
the  3ist,  on  his  way  back  to  Dinanagar.  Halting  for 
breakfast  at  Amritsar,  he  reached  his  camp  by  nightfall, 
having  covered  the  hundred  miles  in  ten  hours  and  a  half. 
"  A  party  of  Sikhs,"  he  writes,  "  had  collected  at  a  village 


72  Major  W.  Hodson 

by  the  roadside  to  attack  me  and  polish  me  off."  They 
had  not  expected  him,  however,  till  the  next  morning. 
"  I  am  sorry  to  say,"  he  adds,  "  that  they  surrounded  my 
horses,  which  were  coming  on  quietly  in  the  morning, 
asked  for  me,  and  rinding  I  had  escaped,  stole  my  best 
horse,  a  valuable  Arab,  who  had  carried  me  in  three  fights, 
and  bolted,  not,  however,  without  resistance,  for  two 
horsemen  (Guides)  of  mine  who  were  with  the  horse  tried 
to  save  it.  One  got  four  wounds  and  the  other  escaped 
unhurt.  Had  I  ridden  like  any  other  Christian  instead 
of  like  a  spectre  horseman,  and  been  the  usual  time  on 
the  road,  I  should  have  been  a  '  body.'  "  "  As  soon  as 
the  tidings  reached  us,"  he  says  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Lewin 
Bowring,  "  the  troop  was  off  like  a  flash  of  lightning,  old 
Fathi  Khan  going  at  the  gallop  the  whole  distance  and 
sending  a  man  to  us — we  were  at  breakfast  at  the  time 
in  camp — to  say  that  he  was  off!  We  followed  like  a 
steeplechase,  got  up  to  the  scene  of  the  scrimmage,  some 
five  kos  hence,  and  did  our  best  to  trace  the  rascals.  We 
got  on  their  track  and  followed  it  to  Kanowan,  but  there 
lost  all  trace  of  them,  and  as  a  matter  of  course  not  a 
soul  would  own  to  having  seen  them.  ...  I  have  had 
enough  of  riding — 100  miles  on  the  3ist,  and  eleven  hours 
steady  in  the  saddle  on  the  ist!  I  only  feel  it  in  the 
waist,  which  is  somewhat  sore  from  the  constant  pressure 
of  a  sword-belt  for  so  many  hours." 

"  '  But  my  horse  it  is  another's, 
And  it  never  can  be  mine,'  " 

were  the  words  in  which  Hodson,  writing  to  his  father, 
gave  a  humorous  turn  to  the  feeling  of  "  intense  disgust  " 
expressed  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Bowring  at  the  abduction 
of  his  favourite  Arab,  who  had  done  him  "  yeoman 
service  "  during  the  campaign. 

On  January  22,  the  citadel  of  Multan  surrendered  to 
General  Whish,  and  to  Herbert  Edwardes  was  intrusted 
the  duty  of  escorting  Mulraj  as  prisoner  to  Lahore.  Three 
of  Whish's  brigades  were  at  once  sent  northwards  to  rein- 
force Gough,  who  had  meanwhile  halted  at  Chilianwala, 
watching  Sher  Singh's  army  intrenched  about  Rasul.  By 


The  Second  Sikh  War  73 

the  middle  of  February  the  combined  forces  of  Sher 
and  Chatar  Singh  marched  quietly  round  Cough's  flank 
towards  the  Chinab  near  Wazirabad  in  hopes  of  inter- 
cepting Cough's  reinforcements,  and  even,  it  was  said, 
of  making  a  dash  at  Lahore.  By  this  time  Hodson  found 
himself  acting  in  close  companionship  with  the  army  of 
the  Punjab.  "  I  am  at  present  with  my  men,"  he  writes 
on  February  19  from  Wazirabad,  "  attached  to  a  brigade 
encamped  on  this  (the  left)  bank  of  the  Chinab  to  prevent 
the  enemy  crossing  until  Lord  Cough  is  ready  to  attack 
them  on  the  right  bank,  where  he  is  now  encamped  with 
his  whole  force  minus  our  brigade." 

Baffled  by  swollen  fords  and  British  vigilance  in  their 
attempts  to  cross  the  Chinab,  the  Sikh  leaders  prepared 
to  make  their  last  stand  round  the  walled  city  of  Gujarat, 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Chinab,  some  miles  north  of 
Wazirabad.  In  front  of  this  place  some  50,000  horse  and 
foot,  including  1500  Afghans,  with  an  armament  of  60 
guns,  awaited  Lord  Cough's  advance  at  the  head  of 
23,000  men  and  90  guns. 

On  February  21,  1849,  the  British  general  fought  and 
won  "  his  last  battle  and  his  best,"  as  he  himself  put  it 
in  his  letter  to  the  chairman  of  the  India  Board.  At 
8.30  of  that  morning  the  battle  of  the  guns  began,  and 
raged  more  or  less  fiercely  for  about  three  hours.  By 
that  time  the  two  villages  on  our  right  front  had  been 
stormed,  and  about  noon  the  long  British  line  moved 
forward  to  certain  victory.  The  retreat  of  the  enemy 
was  soon  turned  by  our  guns  and  cavalry  into  a  murderous 
rout.  That  day  the  whole  of  their  standing  camp,  their 
baggage,  ordnance  stores,  and  fifty-three  of  their  guns 
fell  into  the  victor's  hands.  Cough's  whole  loss  in  killed 
and  wounded  amounted  only  to  806  men. 

At  this  crowning  victory  of  Gujarat,  Hodson  himself 
was  present  as  an  active  member  of  Lord  Cough's  personal 
staff.  Of  his  letter  describing  the  battle  no  trace  can  be 
found,  nor  did  his  name  at  first  appear  in  Lord  Cough's 
despatch  to  the  Governor-General.  This  oversight,  how- 
ever, was  duly  remedied  in  Lord  Cough's  postscript  of 
March  15:  "On  the  reperusal  of  my  despatch  relative  to 
the  operations  of  February  21,  at  Gujarat,  I  regret  to  find 


74  Major  W.  Hodson 

that  I  omitted  to  mention  the  names  of  Lieutenants 
Lumsden  and  Hodson  of  the  corps  of  Guides,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Lake  of  the  Engineers,  attached  to  the  Political 
Department.  These  officers  were  most  active  in  con- 
veying orders  throughout  the  action,  and  I  now  beg  to 
bring  their  names  to  the  favourable  notice  of  your 
lordship." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FROM    SOLDIER   TO    CIVILIAN.       1849-1850 

ON  the  morning  of  February  22,  a  strong  flying  column 
of  all  arms,  led  by  the  dashing  Sir  Walter  Gilbert,  set 
out  from  the  field  of  Gujarat  on  that  long  hot  chase  of 
the  routed  enemy  which  led  to  the  final  surrender  of  the 
Sikhs  at  Rawal  Pindi,  and  ended  a  week  later  in  the  flight 
of  Dost  Muhammad's  horsemen  through  the  Khaibar  hills,, 
only  a  few  hours  before  Gilbert's  cavalry  reached  Pesha- 
war. On  March  30, 1849,  the  Marquis  of  Dalhousie  issued 
the  proclamation  which  dethroned  the  child-sovereign  of 
Ranjit's  kingdom,  and  turned  the  Punjab  into  a  province 
of  British  India. 

"  I  had  anticipated  and  wished  for  this  measure," 
wrote  Hodson  on  April  17.  "I  did  not,  however,  expect 
that  it  would  be  carried  out  so  suddenly  and  so  sweep- 
ingly  as  it  has  been.  I  have  been  annexed  as  well  as  the 
Punjab.  My  '  occupation's  gone.'  " 

In  other  words,  under  the  new  scheme  of  government 
provided  by  Lord  Dalhousie  for  the  Punjab,  Lieutenant 
W.  Hodson  was  relieved  for  the  moment  of  his  civil  duties 
by  some  one  whose  official  rank  entitled  him  to  displace  a. 
mere  subaltern  of  less  than  five  years'  standing.  Conscious 
of  his  own  worth,  as  attested  by  the  records,  public  and 
private,  of  his  recent  services,  he  fell  back,  with  a  passing 
grumble,  upon  the  post  he  still  held  as  second  in  command 
of  the  Guides  under  the  high-souled  Harry  Lumsden. 
After  instructing  the  new  Commissioner  in  the  details  of 
the  province,  which  he  himself  had  won  from  the  rebels 
during  the  past  six  months,  he  rejoined  the  Guides  at 
Peshawar  to  arrange  with  Lumsden  the  proposed  additions 
to  the  strength  of  that  corps. 

"  Now  daily,  morning  and  evening,"  he  writes  in  June,. 
"  I  may  be  seen  standing  on  one  leg  to  convince  their 
Afghan  mind  of  the  plausibility  and  elegance  of  the  goose- 
75 


76  Major  W.  Hodson 

step.  I  am  quite  a  sergeant-major  just  now,  and  you 
will  well  believe  that  your  wandering  brother  is  suffi- 
ciently cosmopolised  to  drop  with  a  certain  aplomb  into 
any  line  of  life  which  may  turn  up  in  the  course  of  his 
career.  I  was  always  fond  of  '  soldiering/  and  there  is 
a  species  of  absurdity  in  dropping  from  the  minister  of 
a  province  into  a  drill-sergeant,  which  is  enlivening." 

Meanwhile  Hodson,  as  he  tells  his  brother,  had  "  made 
some  progress  in  the  knowledge  of  men,"  but  found  him- 
self behindhand  in  that  of  books.  "  We  are  sadly  off," 
he  writes,  "  for  military  works  in  English,  and  few 
sciences  require  more  study  than  the  art  of  war.  You 
might  get  me  a  list  of  good  works  from  the  United 
Service  Institution  at  Charing  Cross.  I  want  the  best 
edition  of  Caesar  procurable;  also  Xenophon  and  Arrian. 
I  fancy  the  last  has  been  very  well  edited."  In  the 
matter  of  reading  he  was  certainly  better  off  than  most 
of  the  many  officers  then  quartered  about  the  frontier; 
but  he  had  read  the  few  books  he  always  carried  about 
with  him  until  he  was  tired  of  them  all  excepting  Shake- 
speare. "  Then,  of  course,  there  are  no  ladies  here,  and 
consequently  no  society,  or  reunions  (as  they  are  called 
when  people  live  together),  and  people  are  pitched  head- 
long on  to  their  own  resources,  and  find  them  very  hard 
falling  indeed  1 " 

He  was  just  then  recovering  from  a  sharp  attack  of 
fever — "  a  regular  blazing  Eastern  fever,  the  sort  of  thing 
which  burns  so  fast  that  if  it  don't  stop  quickly,  it  burns 
you  well  down  into  the  socket,  and  leaves  you  there  with- 
out strength  to  splutter  or  flicker,  and  you  go  out  without 
the  satisfaction  of  a  last  flare-up  at  expiring."  By  this 
time  the  order  had  come  for  increasing  the  Guide  corps 
to  1000  men,  so  that  Hodson  would  have  plenty  of  work 
before  him,  especially  as  Lumsden  left  "  almost  every- 
thing "  in  his  lieutenant's  hands.  By  this  time  also  his 
good  friend,  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  had  obtained  for  him 
the  post  of  Assistant  Commissioner  under  the  new  Board 
of  Administration,  at  the  head  of  which  was  Sir  Henry 
himself. 

On  this  occasion  one  of  his  heartiest  well-wishers  was 
his  late  comrade  and  commander,  Harry  Lumsden.  "  I 


From  Soldier  to  Civilian  77 

congratulate  you,"  he  wrote  in  July,  "  on  being  made  an 
Assistant  Commissioner  in  the  Punjab,  though  I  am 
myself  truly  sorry  to  lose  you  as  a  Guide:  however,  it  is 
for  your  advantage,  no  doubt." 

Some  months  earlier  the  new  President  of  the  Punjab 
Board  had  not  been  in  the  best  of  humours  either  with 
Hodson  or  Hodson's  commandant.  To  the  former  he 
had  written  on  February  28:  "I  am  seriously  displeased 
at  the  way  you  and  Lumsden  have  behaved  after  all  my 
injunctions.  Battles  are  not  fought  every  day,  and  yet 
to  this  moment  I  have  not  one  line  from  either  of  you, 
the  two  officers  of  the  Guides,  on  the  subject  of  a  general 
action  fought  on  the  2ist."  And  on  the  following  day, 
after  giving  Hodson  some  directions  as  to  the  treatment 
of  some  prisoners,  Sir  Henry  wrote:  "  I  know  you  are 
zealous,  and  I  am  ready  as  ever  to  appreciate  your  merits, 
but  it  seems  to  me  that  a  year  has  not  lessened  the  great 
defect  in  your  character  and  drawback  to  your  usefulness 
— viz.,  impetuosity  and  excess  of  self-reliance." 

Sir  Henry,  indeed,  was  just  then  out  of  humour  with 
things  in  general,  especially  with  Dalhousie's  plans  for 
annexing  and  governing  the  Punjab.  His  broken  health 
and  his  strained  relations  with  a  Governor-General  who 
had  a  will  of  his  own  did  not  tend  to  improve  a  temper 
naturally  quick  to  take  offence,  and  now  yet  more  em- 
bittered by  the  fact  of  his  holding  only  the  first  place  in 
a  board  of  three,  one  of  whom  was  his  brother,  John 
Lawrence.  In  Hodson's  case,  however,  this  splenetic 
humour  does  not  seem  to  have  rankled  long.  In  due 
time  Sir  Henry  frankly  owned  that  he  had  misjudged 
his  young  friend,  and  Hodson's  soreness  at  the  seeming 
injustice  ere  long  gave  place  to  kindlier  feelings  and  a 
juster  sense  of  his  patron's  unfailing  efforts  on  his  behalf. 
Sir  Henry's  letters  of  this  period  show  how  warm  an 
interest  he  took  in  Hodson's  fortunes.  Writing  from 
Lahore  on  July  21,  to  congratulate  Hodson  on  his  pucka 
appointment,  he  says:  "Regarding  your  appointment, 
I  had  to  speak  or  write  at  least  six  times  since  I  went  to 
Simla.  You  can  come  down  with  Lumsden  or  otherwise 
as  you  and  he  think  best.  ...  If  you  come  down,  the 
sooner  the  better,  for  I  have  a  special  bit  of  service  in 


78  Major  W.  Hodson 

this  direction  for  the  Guides  which  must  come  off  soon. .  . . 
You  never  sent  me  the  memorandum  of  services  during 
the  war."  x 

About  the  middle  of  August,  Hodson  had  reached 
Lahore  and  entered  on  the  duties  of  Assistant  to  the 
Commissioner,,  Charles  B.  Saunders.  He  had  hardly  set 
to  work  when  he  came  in  for  another  sharp  attack  of 
fever.  "  I  am  about  again/'  he  writes  on  September  3, 
"  but  not  able  to  work.  Sir  H.  Lawrence  is  very  unwell: 
I  fear  that  his  constitution  is  utterly  broken  down,  and 
that  he  will  either  have  to  go  away  from  India  for  two 
years  or  more,  or  that  another  hot  season  will  kill  him. 
He  is  ten  years  older  in  every  respect  than  he  was  during 
our  Kashmir  trip  in  1846." 

With  regard  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  his  duties, 
the  new  Assistant  Commissioner  had  not  much  to  learn. 
They  combined,  in  his  own  words,  "  judicial,  police, 
magisterial,  and  revenue  work.  A  goodly  number  of  new 
ideas,  is  it  not?  Happily  I  have  tried  all  under  the  old 
regime,  and  have  only  to  learn  the  new  system  and  official 
slang.  It  will  be  a  good  line  eventually.  At  present  I 
get  less  pay  than  with  the  Guides  since  their  augmenta- 
tion." 

It  was  not  entirely  of  his  own  choice  that  Hodson  had 
entered  upon  his  new  career.  "  To  tell  the  truth," 
he  wrote  on  September  24,  "I  had  much  rather  have 
remained  with  the  Guides, — a  more  independent  and  very 
far  pleasanter  life,  and  I  think  one  that  will  in  the  end 
be  more  distinguished.  However,  I  was  guided  by  Mr. 
Thomason's  and  Sir  H.  Lawrence's  advice,  and  must  take 
the  consequences." 

There  were  other  matters,  also,  on  which  for  the 
moment  he  was  specially  employed.  "  The  army  has 
fallen  to  my  share,  and  I  have  to  examine  into  the  claims 
of  innumerable  fine  old  hangers-on  of  the  Lahore  State 
to  grants  or  pensions,  to  record  their  rights,  and  report 
on  them  for  the  decision  of  Government.  Then  there  are 
upwards  of  2000  old  women,  wives  and  mothers  of  soldiers 
killed  in  war,  whom  I  have  to  see  and  pay  the  pittance 
decreed  by  their  masters.  Lord  Dalhousie  and  his 
1  Letters  supplied  by  Miss  Hodson. 


From  Soldier  to  Civilian  79 

secretaries  and  officials  are  stern  and  hard  taskmasters, 
and  are  not  unworthily  represented  by  the  new  Board, 
the  only  merciful  member  of  which  (Sir  H.  Lawrence)  is 
left  in  a  minority,  and  is,  moreover,  too  ill  to  do 
much." 

In  October,  Hodson  was  again  disabled  for  a  time  from 
active  work.  For  several  weeks  he  was,  in  his  own  words, 
"  continuously  bedridden,  thanks  to  a  rampageous  horse. 
Gentlemen  at  home  ride  trained  and  broken  horses;  we 
ride  fresh  young  brutes  innocent  of  bit  or  saddle  till  the 
day  one  mounts  them,  and  it's  not  one  wild  trick  but  a 
thousand  they  have.  But  my  leg  is  doing  well,  only 
sprained;  but  three  weeks  on  one's  back  is  hard  lines 
when,  as  now,  it  means  solitary  confinement.  "Tis  true 
an  acquaintance  now  and  then  drops  in,  and  the  doctor's 
visits  mark  the  lapse  of  days,  but  at  the  best  it  is  weary 
work." 

During  those  weeks  of  enforced  idleness  he  amused 
himself  with  reading  the  Life  of  Sir  T.  Fowell  Buxton, 
whose  energy,  he  wrote,  "  is  admirably  shown  in  every- 
thing, from  porter  and  beefsteaks  to  bullying  West  Indian 
planters.  We  want  men  of  that  kind  out  here,  who  will 
stand  climate  and  snubbing  to  any  amount.  The  apathy 
and  laissez-faire  system,  which  the  climate  of  India  seems 
to  engender,  is  quite  astounding;  but  one  gets  used  to  it 
soon,  and  in  time,  I  suppose,  as  apathetic  as  the  rest  of 
them.  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  is  still  absent  on  his  tour.  .  .  . 
He  seemed  to  me  utterly  broken  up,  body  and  mind, 
when  he  was  here." 

On  the  22nd,  he  writes  to  his  father:  "How  I  envy 
you  your  mountain  and  lake  wanderings  [in  Switzerland], 
and  how  much  I  wish  I  could  be  with  you  and  the  dear 
sisters  amid  such  a  beautiful  country.  What  a  relief  it 
would  be  after  the  sea-like  plain  of  Upper  India,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  delight  of  seeing  you  all  again !  ...  I  am 
not  yet  able  to  walk  or  ride,  but  I  make  my  friends  drive 
me  in  their  carriages."  He  had  "  quite  a  host  of  guests  " 
staying  with  him  during  a  great  race  meeting  at  Lahore, 
in  which  Sir  Walter  Gilbert  might  be  seen,  at  the  age 
of  sixty -five,  "  riding  races  against  all  comers,  profes- 
sional and  gentlemen  riders,  and  beating  them  all." 


8o  Major  W.  Hodson 

In  December  1849,  Lord  Dalhousie  paid  his  first  visit 
to  the  capital  of  his  new  province.  "  Great  have  been 
the  doings,"  writes  Hodson  on  the  yth — "  two  balls,  two 
darbars,  two  levees,  a  fete  champetre,  and  an  investi- 
ture of  the  Bath,  all  in  one  week.  ...  I  had  only  just 
strength  enough  to  stand  up  during  the  proceedings. 
We  civil  employes  gave  a  ball  last  night  to  Lady  Dalhousie 
and  the  Governor-General.  .  .  .  But  the  event  to  me 
was  my  introduction  to  Sir  Charles  Napier,  and  a  '  big 
talk  '  I  had  with  him.  I  have  been  long  looking  forward 
to  this,  and  was  much  pleased.  ...  I  am  writing  against 
time,  as  I  am  going  to  dine  with  Sir  C.  Napier  en 
famiHe."  * 

In  the  first  days  of  1850,  Hodson  was  staying  with  the 
Lawrences  for  change  of  air  at  Lahore.  "  I  go  into  camp 
to-morrow,"  he  writes  on  the  5th,  "  for  the  same  object, 
and  hope  at  length  to  shake  off  the  effects  of  my  long 
ailings.  It  is  three  months  since  I  mounted  a  horse,  and 
that  in  India,  and  in  this  beautiful  climate,  where  one 
ought  to  be  in  the  saddle  half  the  day.  I  am  thoroughly 
weary  of  contemplating  four  white  walls  and  a  white  roof. 
The  bare  barn-like  rooms,  without  curtains,  colour,  or 
ornaments,  do  so  weary  one's  eyes  after  a  few  weeks' 
constant  confinement.  Commend  me  to  a  camp  life, 
even  though  you  could  not  leave  your  tent  without  being 
shot  at!  Sir  C.  Napier  is  coming  out  very  strong,  and 
routing  people  up  amazingly.  ...  He  is  frightened,  as 
he  well  may  be,  at  the  fearful  want  of  discipline  in  the 
native  army.  ...  Sir  Henry  talks  of  our  making  a  tour 
together  among  the  wilds  of  the  Punjab." 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Hodson  made  or  renewed  the 
acquaintance  with  William  Arnold,  the  youngest  and 
not  least  gifted  son  of  Rugby's  famous  headmaster.  In 
the  young  ensign  of  a  native  infantry  regiment,  the 
future  author  of  Oakfield,  Hodson  found  a  companion 
suited  to  his  own  scholarly  tastes,  and  responsive  to  his 
more  thoughtful  moods.  "He  is  quite  fresh  and  very 
Arnold-like,  and  does  me  a  world  of  good.  One  feels  at 
home  again  with  some  one  to  speak  to  about  former  days, 

1  The  hero  of  Miani  had  just  succeeded  Lord  Gough  as  Com- 
mander-in- Chi  ef. 


From  Soldier  to  Civilian  8 1 

and  of  sense  sufficient  for  conversation.  He  is  a  shrewd 
clever  lad,  I  think."  * 

By  the  2ist  of  January,  Hodsonhad  reached  Pathankot 
in  company  with  Sir  Henry  Lawrence.  He  hoped  to  see 

"  our  coursers  graze  at  ease 
Beyond  the  blue  Borysthenes," 

the  name  by  which  he  had  dubbed  the  Indus  before  his 
return  to  civilised  life.  He  was  now  able  to  ride  again, 
"  though  not  quite  with  the  same  firmness  in  the  saddle 
as  of  yore.  I  have  no  doubt,  however,  that  ere  we  do 
see  the  '  Borysthenes  '  I  shall  be  as  '  game  '  for  a  gallop 
of  one  hundred  miles  on  end  as  I  was  last  year  at  this 
season." 

Some  weeks  later  Hodson  became  assistant  to  the 
Deputy-Commissioner  of  Amritsar,  Charles  B.  Saunders, 
— "  a  very  nice  sort  of  fellow,  with  an  exceeding  pretty 
and  nice  wife."  For  the  Commissioner  himself,  Mr. 
(afterwards  Sir  Robert)  Montgomery,  he  soon  conceived 
a  strong  liking.  "  He  is  a  very  able  man,  and  at  the 
head  of  his  service  in  many  respects."  His  letters  of  this 
period  seem  to  attest  the  depressing  influence  of  three 
months'  illness,  crowned  by  an  attack  of  jaundice,  from 
which  he  was  only  just  recovering. 

He  looked  back  regretfully  to  the  stirring  life  he  had 
led  on  service  with  the  Guides;  and  he  brooded,  not 
without  cause,  over  the  fact  of  his  exclusion  from  the 
honours  bestowed  on  deserving  officers  after  the  late 
campaign.  "It  is  now  two  years,"  he  writes  on  March 
4,  "  since  I  was  made  an  assistant  to  the  Resident,  and 
within  a  few  months  of  that  time  I  took  absolute  charge 
of  a  tract  of  country  (in  a  state  of  war,  too)  comprising 
three  modern  districts,  in  one  of  which  I  am  now  playing 
third  fiddle.  Surely  annexation  was  a  '  heavy  blow  and 
a  great  discouragement '  to  me  at  least.  In  the  military 
line,  too,  I  have  been  equally  unlucky,  from  the  fact  of 

1  William  Delafield  Arnold  soon  exchanged  the  life  of  a  soldier 
for  the  duties  of  a  public  teacher.  He  became  a  Director  of  Public 
Instruction  in  the  Punjab,  and  died  at  Gibraltar  on  his  way  home  in 
April  1859.  Readers  of  Matthew  Arnold  may  remember  the  touch- 
ing verses  in  which  he  mourned  his  brother's  untimely  death.  See 
Matthew  Arnold's  Poetical  Works,  p.  294.  Macmillan,  1890. 

F 


82  Major  W.  Hodson 

my  services  having  been  with  detachments  instead  of 
with  the  main  army.  I  held  my  ground  (and  cleared  it 
of  the  enemy,  too)  for  weeks  with  only  120  men  at  my 
back,  and  when  every  officer,  from  General  Wheeler 
downwards,  entreated  me  to  withdraw  and  give  it  up; 
I  fed  5000  men  and  horses  for  six  months  by  personal 
and  unremitting  exertion;  collected  the  revenues  of  the 
disturbed  districts,  and  paid  £15,000  over  and  above  into 
the  treasury,  from  the  proceeds  of  property  taken  from 
the  rebels.  Besides  this,  I  worked  for  General  Wheeler 
so  satisfactorily  that  he  has  declared  publicly  that  he 
could  have  done  nothing  without  me.  So  much  were 
the  Sikhs  enraged  at  my  proceedings  that  party  after 
party  were  sent  to  polish  me  off,  and  at  one  time  I  couldn't 
stir  about  the  country  without  having  bullets  sent  at  my 
head  from  every  bush  and  wall.  However,  I  need  not  go 
on  with  the  catalogue ;  I  have  been  egotistical  enough  as 
it  is." 

A  fortnight  later  he  inveighs  with  equal  force  and 
justice  against  the  seniority  system  which  then  prevailed 
in  India.  "  At  the  age  at  vrhich  officers  become  colonels 
and  majors  not  one  in  fifty  is  able  to  stand  the  wear  and 
tear  of  Indian  service.  They  become  still  more  worn  in 
mind  than  in  body.  All  elasticity  is  gone;  all  energy 
and  enterprise  worn  out;  they  become,  after  a  fortnight's 
campaign,  a  burden  to  themselves,  an  annoyance  to  those 
under  them,  and  a  terror  to  every  one  but  the  enemy! 
The  officer  who  commanded  the  cavalry  brigade  which 
so  disgraced  the  service  at  Chilianwala  was  not  able  to 
mount  a  horse  without  the  assistance  of  two  men.  A 
brigadier  of  infantry,  under  whom  I  served  during  the 
three  most  critical  days  of  the  late  war,  could  not  see  his 
regiment  when  I  led  his  horse  by  the  bridle  until  its  nose 
touched  the  bayonets;  and  even  then  he  said  faintly, 
'  Pray,  which  way  are  the  men  facing,  Mr.  Hodson?  ' 
This  is  no  exaggeration,  I  assure  you.  Can  you  wonder 
that  our  troops  have  to  recover  by  desperate  fighting, 
and  with  heavy  loss,  the  advantages  thrown  away  by 
the  want  of  heads  and  eyes  to  lead  them?  " 

"  A  seniority  service,"  he  adds,  "  like  that  of  the 
Company,  is  all  very  well  for  poor  men;  better  still  for 


From  Soldier  to  Civilian  83 

fools,  for  they  must  rise  equally  with  wise  men;  but  for 
maintaining  the  discipline  and  efficiency  of  the  army  in 
time  of  peace,  and  hurling  it  on  the  enemy  in  war,  there 
never  was  a  system  which  carried  so  many  evils  on  its 
front  and  face. 

"  I  speak  strongly,  you  will  say,  for  I  feel  acutely: 
though  I  am  so  young  a  soldier,  yet  the  whole  of  my 
brief  career  has  been  spent  in  camps,  and  a  year  such  as 
the  last,  spent  in  almost  constant  strife,  and  a  great 
part  of  it  on  detached  and  independent  command,  teaches 
one  lessons  which  thirty  years  of  peaceful  life,  of  parades 
and  cantonments,  would  never  impart. 

"  There  are  men  of  iron,  like  Napier  and  Radetzky, 
aged  men,  whom  nothing  affects;  but  they  are  just  in 
sufficient  numbers  to  prove  the  rule  by  establishing 
exceptions.  Depend  upon  it,  that  for  the  rough  work 
of  war,  especially  in  India,  your  leaders  must  be  young 
to  be  effective." 

In  a  letter  of  April  5,  Hodson  tells  how  he  had  just 
spent  three  days  on  civil  duty  in  Sir  Charles  Napier's 
camp.  Sir  Charles  "  was  most  kind  and  cordial;  vastly 
amusing  and  interesting,  and  gave  me  even  a  higher 
opinion  of  him  than  before.  To  be  sure,  his  language 
and  mode  of  expressing  himself  savour  more  of  the  last 
than  of  this  century — of  the  camp  than  of  the  court; 
but,  barring  these  eccentricities,  he  is  a  wonderful  man; 
his  heart  is  as  thoroughly  in  his  work,  and  he  takes  as 
high  a  tone  in  all  that  concerns  it,  as  Arnold  did  in  his 
— that  is  to  say,  the  highest  the  subject  is  capable  of. 
I  only  trust  he  will  remain  with  us  as  long  as  his  health 
lasts,  and  endeavour  to  rouse  the  army  from  the  state  of 
slack  discipline  into  which  it  has  fallen.  On  my  parting 
with  him  he  said,  '  Now,  remember,  Hodson,  if  there  is 
any  way  in  which  I  can  be  of  use  to  you,  pray  don't 
scruple  to  write  to  me.'  I  didn't  show  him  his  brother's 
(Sir  W.  Napier's)  letter,  that  he  might  judge  for  himself 
first,  and  know  me  per  se,  or  rather  per  me :  I  will,  how- 
ever, if  ever  I  see  him  again." 

In  the  same  letter  he  refers  to  the  death  of  Dr.  Arnold 
as  "  a  national  misfortune.  ...  As  it  is,  the  influence 
which  he  did  produce  has  been  most  lasting  and  striking 


84  Major  W.  Hodson 

in  its  effects.     It  is  felt  even  in  India;  I  cannot  say  more 
than  that. 

"  You  should  come  and  live  in  India  for  five  years," 
he  adds,  "  if  you  wished  to  feel  the  benefit  of  our 
'  established  '  forms  of  Christianity.  Even  the  outward 
signs  and  tokens  of  its  profession — cathedrals,  churches, 
colleges,  tombs,  hospitals,  almshouses — have,  I  am  now 
more  than  ever  convinced,  an  influence  on  men's  minds 
and  principles  and  actions  which  none  but  those  who 
have  been  removed  from  their  influence  for  years  can 
feel  or  appreciate  thoroughly.  ...  A  few  cathedrals 
and  venerable-looking  edifices  would  do  wonders  in  our 
colonies.  Here  we  have  nothing  physical  to  remind  us 
of  any  creed  but  Islamism  and  Hinduism.  The  com- 
parative purity  of  the  Moslem's  creed  is  shown  admirably 
in  the  superiority  in  taste  and  form  of  their  places  of 
prayer.  Christianity  alone  is  thrust  out  of  sight!  A 
barrack-room,  a  ball-room,  a  dining-room,  perhaps  a 
court  of  justice,  serve  the  purpose  for  which  the  '  wisdom 
and  piety  of  our  ancestors  '  constructed  such  noble  and 
stately  temples;  feeling,  justly,  that  the  human  mind  in 
its  weakness  required  to  be  called  to  the  exercise  of 
devotion  by  the  senses  as  well  as  by  reason  and  will; 
that  separation  from  the  ordinary  scenes  of  everyday  life, 
its  cares,  its  toils,  its  amusements,  is  necessary  to  train 
the  feelings  and  thoughts  to  that  state  in  which  religious 
impressions  are  conveyed.  I  have  not  seen  a  church  for 
three  years  and  more,  nor  heard  the  service  of  the  Church 
read,  save  at  intervals  in  a  room  in  which,  perhaps,  the 
night  before,  I  had  been  crushed  by  a  great  dinner-party 
or  worn  out  by  the  bustle  and  turmoil  of  suitors.  The 
building  in  which  one  toils  becomes  intimately  associated 
with  the  toil  itself.  That  in  which  one  prays  should 
at  least  have  some  attribute  to  remind  one  of  prayer. 
Human  nature  shrinks  for  long  from  the  thought  of  being 
buried  in  any  but  consecrated  ground;  the  certainty  of 
lying  dead  some  day  or  other  on  a  field  of  battle,  or  by 
a  roadside,  has,  I  have  remarked,  the  most  strange  effect 
on  the  soldier's  mind.  Depend  upon  it,  the  same  feeling 
holds  good  with  regard  to  consecrated  places  of  worship. 
You  may  think  this  fanciful,  but  I  am  sure  you  would 


From  Soldier  to  Civilian  85 

feel  it  more  strongly  than  I  do  were  you  to  live  for  a  time 
in  a  country  where  everything  but  religion  has  its  living 
and  existent  memorials  and  evidences." 

Hodson  had  just  made  himself  comfortable  in  Amritsar, 
in  a  pretty  garden-house  fitted  up  with  doors  and  windows, 
when  he  found  himself  driven  by  the  state  of  his  health 
to  go  on  four  months'  leave  to  the  hills.  Going  away 
was,  he  felt,  "  a  great  bore  in  some  respects,  as  it  may 
be  a  hindrance  in  the  way  of  promotion,  and,  moreover, 
I  am  reduced  to  the  state  of  half-pay  for  the  time  I  am 
on  leave.  On  the  other  hand,  neither  promotion  nor 
pay  are  any  good  so  long  as  life  is  a  burden  to  one  by 
reason  of  weakness  and  sickness." 


CHAPTER  IX 

FROM   KASHMIR  TO   KUSSOWLIE.      1850-1851 

EARLY  in  June,  Hodson  quitted  Amritsar  to  join  Sir  Henry 
Lawrence  on  the  road  to  Kashmir.  By  the  loth  they 
had  reached  the  summit  of  the  first  high  ridge  southward 
of  the  snowy  range,  and  were  only  about  sixty  miles 
from  the  valley  itself.  "  To  me,"  he  writes,  "  travelling 
is  life,  and  in  a  country  where  one  has  no  home,  no  local 
attractions,  and  no  special  sympathies,  it  is  the  greatest 
comfort  in  the  world.  I  get  terribly  ennuye  if  I  am  in 
one  place  for  three  months  at  a  time;  yet  I  think  I  should 
be  just  as  tame  as  ever  in  England,  quite  domestic  again." 

The  travellers  were  resting  in  the  Kashmir  valley, 
the  beauty  of  which  enraptured  Hodson,  who  had  only 
seen  it  before  in  its  winter  dress.  "  Nothing  can  exceed 
the  luxuriant  beauty  of  the  vegetation,  the  plane-trees 
and  walnuts  especially,  except  the  squalor,  dirt,  and 
poverty  of  the  wretched  Kashmirians.  The  king  is 
avaricious,  and  is  old.  The  disease  grows  on  him,  and 
he  won't  look  beyond  his  money-bags.  There  is  a  capita- 
tion tax  on  every  individual  practising  any  labour,  trade, 
profession,  or  employment,  collected  daily.  Fancy  the 
Londoners  having  to  go  and  pay  a  fourpenny-  and  a 
sixpenny-bit  each  per  diem  for  the  pleasure  of  living  in 
the  town.  Then  the  tax  on  all  shawls,  goods,  and  fabrics 
is  about  seventy-five  per  cent.,  including  custom  duty, 
and  this  the  one  solitary  staple  of  the  valley.  .  .  .  What 
a  garden  it  might  be  made!  Not  an  acre  to  which  the 
finest  water  might  not  be  conveyed  without  expense 
worth  naming,  and  a  climate  where  all  produce  comes 
to  perfection,  from  wheat  and  barley  to  grapes  and  silk." 

On  the  2oth  they  went  northwards  towards  Ladakh, 

whence  they  passed  on  through  Iskardo,  across  the  Indus, 

to  Gilgit — "  a  terra  incognita  to  which,  I  believe,  only 

one  European  now  living  has  penetrated."    "  Sir  Henry 

86 


From  Kashmir  to  Kussowlie        87 

Lawrence/'  he  adds,  "  is  not  well,  and  certainly  not  up 
to  this  trip,  but  he  has  made  up  his  mind  to  go.  I  do 
not  gain  strength  as  fast  as  I  could  wish,  but  I  fancy, 
when  once  thoroughly  unstrung,  it  takes  a  long  time  to 
recover  the  wonted  tone." 

By  the  end  of  July  our  travellers  were  encamped  at 
Kargil,  only  a  few  marches  from  Leh,  the  chief  town  in 
the  Tibetan  province  of  Ladakh.  "  As  far  as  the  pass," 
he  writes  to  Mr.  F.  A.  Foster,  "  dividing  Kashmir  from 
Tibet,  all  was  lovely,  rich  woods  and  green  sloping  lawns, 
covered  with  a  profusion  of  our  English  garden-flowers, 
interspersed  with  mighty  peaks  and  savage  rocks.  You 
cross  the  ridge  and  all  is  changed — glaciers  and  vast 
masses  of  mountain  alone  meet  the  eye,  and  as  you 
descend  the  valley  of  the  Drap  river,  day  after  day  you 
have  but  a  wall  of  mountains  on  your  right  hand  and  on 
your  left,  and  a  torrent  rushing  along  by  your  side  to 
join  the  Indus.  .  .  .  We  are  among  the  Bhots  here, 
Buddhists  by  creed,  and  the  ugliest  mortals  I  ever  be- 
held. Their  features  are  an  immortal  smash,  scarce 
cognisable  one  from  another,  with  low  villainous-looking 
forehead  and  bad  eyes.  No  wonder,  since  they  live  half 
buried  in  snow  during  six  months  of  the  year !  and  have 
to  grind  hard  for  a  livelihood  the  remainder  of  it.  I 
need  hardly  say  that  their  language  is  unfit  for  ears 
polite,  and  undistinguishable  from  that  of  a  calf  or  wild 
beast.  Neither  gods  nor  men  could  undertake  such  a 
task  as  deciphering  it,  one  would  think,  yet  I  believe  a 
romantic  Pole  or  Russian  really  did  make  a  vocabulary 
thereof,  and  I  doubt  not  the  Boden  professor  would 
lecture  off-hand  on  the  subject." 

On  August  4,  Lawrence's  camp  was  pitched  at  Kalsi 
in  Ladakh.  "  The  kitchen,"  writes  Hodson,  "  is  under 
a  neighbouring  tree;  and  round  a  fire  are  squatting  our 
gallant  guards,  a  party  of  Maharaja  Gulab  Singh's  house- 
hold brigade.  Some  of  his  people  accompany  us,  and 
what  with  followers,  a  munshi  or  two  for  business  and 
their  followers,  I  daresay  we  are  a  party  of  two  or  three 
hundred  souls  of  all  colours  and  creeds — Christians, 
Mussulmans,  Hindus,  Buddhists,  Sikhs,  and  varieties  of 
each.  The  creeds  of  the  party  are  as  varied  as  their 


88  Major  W.  Hodson 

colours ;  and  that's  saying  a  good  deal,  when  you  contrast 
my  white  face  and  yellow  hair  with  Sir  Henry's  nut- 
brown,  the  pale  white  parchmenty-colour  of  the  Kashmiri, 
the  honest  brunette  tinge  of  the  tall  Sikh,  the  clear  olive- 
brown  of  the  Rajput,  down  through  all  shades  of  dingi- 
ness  to  the  deep  black  of  the  low-caste  Hindu.  I  am  one 
of  the  whitest  men  in  India,  I  fancy,  as  instead  of  burn- 
ing in  the  sun,  I  get  blenched  like  endive  or  celery.  How 
you  would  stare  at  my  long  beard,  moustache,  and 
whiskers.  .  .  .  The  Indus  is  brawling  along  500  feet 
below  us,  as  if  in  a  hurry  to  get  '  out  of  that ' ;  and 
above,  one's  neck  aches  with  trying  to  see  to  the  top  of 
the  vast  craggy  mountains  which  confine  the  stream  in 
its  rocky  channel.  So  wild,  so  heaven-forsaken  a  scene 
I  never  beheld;  living  nature  there  is  none.  In  a  week's 
journey  I  have  seen  three  marmots,  two  wagtails,  and 
three  jackdaws,  and  we  have  averaged  twenty  miles 
a-day." 

After  some  more  marches  of  the  same  average  length, 
the  party  arrived  at  Leh  or  Ladakh,  which  Hodson 
describes  as  "  a  small  town  of  not  more  than  400  houses, 
on  a  projecting  promontory  of  rock  stretching  out  into 
the  valley  formed  by  one  of  the  small  feeders  of  the 
Indus.  For  the  people,  they  are  Bhots,  wear  tails,  and 
have  flat  features  like  the  Chinese,  and  black  garments. 
The  women,  unlike  other  Asiatics  whom  I  have  seen,  go 
about  the  streets  openly,  as  in  civilised  countries;  but 
they  are  an  ugly  race,  and  withal  dirty  to  an  absolutely 
unparalleled  extent.  They  wear  no  headdress,  but  plait 
their  masses  of  black  hair  into  sundry  tails  half-way 
down  their  backs.  Covering  the  division  of  the  hair 
from  the  forehead,  back,  and  down  the  shoulders,  is  a 
narrow  leathern  strap,  universally  adorned  with  rough 
turquoises  and  bits  of  gold  and  silver."  One  old  Rani, 
on  whom  Lawrence  and  Hodson  called,  had  her  head 
adorned  with  a  broader  strap,  on  which  were  sewn  156 
large  turquoises  reckoned  to  be  worth  several  hundred 
pounds. 

"The  climate  is  delightful;  it  never  rains;  the  sky 
is  blue  to  a  fault,  and  snow  only  falls  sparingly  in  winter, 
though  the  climate  is  cold,  being  10,000  feet  (they  say) 


From  Kashmir  to  Kussowlie        89 

above  the  sea.  In  boiling  water  the  thermometer  was 
only  1 88°.  I  never  felt  a  more  exhilarating  air.  That 
one  week  quite  set  me  up,  and  I  have  been  better  ever 
since.  The  Llamas  or  monks,  with  their  red  cardinals' 
hats  and  crimson  robes,  look  very  imposing  and  monastic, 
quite  a  travesty  of  the  regular  clergy,  and  they  blow  just 
such  trumpets  as  Fame  does  on  monuments  in  country 
churches.  Jolly  friars  they  are,  and  fat  to  a  man." 

After  a  week  spent  at  Leh  they  crossed  the  mountain 
ridge  which  separates  the  two  branches  of  the  Indus. 
Descending  the  northern  or  right  stream,  they  reached 
Iskardo,  the  capital  of  Baltistan,  or  Little  Tibet.  This 
place  Hodson  characterised  as  "  a  genuine  humbug.  In 
the  middle  of  a  fine  valley  some  6000  feet  above  the 
sea,  surrounded  by  sudden-rising  perpendicular  moun- 
tains 6000  feet  higher,  stands  an  isolated  rock  washed 
by  the  Indus,  some  two  miles  by  three-quarters — a  little 
Gibraltar.  The  valley  may  be  ten  miles  by  three,  partially 
cultivated,  and  inhabited  by  some  two  hundred  scattered 
houses.  There's  Iskardo.  There  was  a  fort  on  the  rock, 
but  that  is  gone,  and  all,  as  usual  in  the  East,  bespeaks 
havoc:  only  Nature  is  grand  here.  The  people  are 
Mussulmans  and  not  Bhots,  and  are  more  human-looking, 
but  not  so  well  clad." 

Hodson  was  surprised  to  find  Iskardo  so  much  hotter 
than  he  had  expected.  On  August  25,  the  thermometer 
in  his  tent  rose  to  92° — "  a  thing,"  he  says,  "  for  which 
I  cannot  possibly  account,  as  there  is  snow  now  on  all 
sides  of  us." 

About  the  middle  of  September,  Hodson  parted  com- 
pany with  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  in  Kashmir,  and  made 
his  way  across  the  Punjab  to  Simla,  where  he  purposed 
spending  a  few  days  with  his  old  friend  Mr.  James 
Thomason.  Sir  Henry  and  he  had  parted  the  best  of 
friends ;  and  Sir  Henry  urged  him  to  use  all  the  influence 
he  could  command  at  Simla,  in  order  to  obtain  the 
promise  of  a  brevet  majority,  whenever  he  might  gain 
the  rank  of  regimental  captain,  as  well  as  the  immediate 
reward  of  a  local  majority  for  his  services  in  the  late 
war. 

What  Sir  Henry  himself  thought  of  his  young  com- 


90  Major  W.  Hodson 

panion  appears  in  his  letter  of  August  29,  to  his  brother 
George:  "I  have  had  a  nice  tour  with  Hodson,  who 
makes  a  good  travelling  companion — energetic,  clever, 
and  well-informed.  I  don't  know  why  you  did  not  take 
to  him  at  Peshawar.  He  has  his  faults, — positiveness 
and  self-will  among  them, — but  it  is  useful  to  us  to  have 
companions  who  contradict  and  keep  us  mindful  that 
we  are  not  Solomons.  I  believe  that  if  Sir  Charles 
Napier  stood  on  his  head  and  cut  capers  with  his  heels, 
a  la  Boileau,  he  would  consider  it  quite  right  that  all 
commanders-in-chief  should  do  so.  ...  Toryism  and 
Absolutism  are  right,  Liberty  only  another  name  for 
Red  Republicanism.  So  you  see  we  have  enough  to  differ 
upon."1 

Among  other  motives  for  Sir  Henry's  visit  to  Kashmir 
had  been  the  purchase  of  shawls  and  other  noteworthy 
products  of  Kashmiri  handlooms,  which  would  take  their 
place  in  the  Indian  department  of  the  Great  Exhibition, 
to  be  held  in  the  following  year  in  the  great  glass  palace 
designed  by  Sir  Joseph  Paxton.  Hodson,  of  course, 
threw  himself  gladly  into  the  congenial  business  of  select- 
ing the  daintiest  samples  of  native  workmanship.  Nor 
could  he  resist  the  temptation  to  order  a  pair  of  shawls 
on  his  own  account.  As  the  making  of  these  elaborate 
works  of  art  would  take  many  months,  he  trusted  that 
he  would  have  the  means  of  paying  for  them  when  the 
bills  were  sent  in. 

In  due  time  the  precious  goods  were  delivered,  but 
the  means  of  payment  were  not  at  once  forthcoming. 
Hodson  therefore  sent  the  shawls  to  England  for  sale, 
and  the  money  obtained  for  them  enabled  him  at  last 
to  meet  the  claims  of  the  Kashmiri  merchants.  Owing 
to  some  miscarriage  there  had  been  unforeseen  delays  in 
the  settlement  of  this  affair;  and  the  merchants  com- 
plained to  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  who  was  naturally  much 
annoyed,  and  no  doubt  spoke  his  mind  freely  to  the 
seeming  delinquent.  It  is  quite  a  mistake,  however,  to 

1  Merivale's  Life  of  Sir  Henry  Lawrence.  The  story  goes  that 
Boileau  of  the  Bengal  Engineers,  while  awaiting  an  audience  of  the 
Governor- General,  amused  himself  by  standing  upon  his  head.  In 
this  posture  he  was  still  to  be  seen,  dangling  his  legs  in  the  air.  when 
the  great  man  suddenly  entered  the  room. 


From  Kashmir  to  Kussowlie        91 

suppose  that  Sir  Henry's  wrath  on  this  occasion  went 
beyond  a  passing  outburst  over  an  act  of  venial  in- 
discretion due  to  his  young  friend's  sanguine  tempera- 
ment alone.  Sir  Henry's  whole  conduct  at  this  period 
belies  the  assertion  put  forward  by  Hodson's  enemies,, 
that  he  had  lost  all  faith  in  Hodson's  personal  integrity » 
Sir  Henry's  two  most  intimate  friends,  Lord  Napier  of 
Magdala  and  Sir  Robert  Montgomery,  both  assured  the 
Rev.  George  H.  Hodson  "  that  they  never  heard  any 
intimation  of  the  sort,  nor  did  his  brother-in-law,  the 
Rev.  J.  Knox  Marshall,  with  whom  to  the  last  he  most 
constantly  corresponded  in  England."  Mr.  Knox  Mar- 
shall well  remembers  "  the  way  in  which  Sir  Henry 
used  to  write  respecting  your  noble  and  distinguished 
brother.  Among  the  many  whose  character  for  honour, 
bravery,  and  courage  those  trying  times  developed,  no 
one  stood  higher,  few  so  high."  l 

That  Hodson's  "  unscrupulous  character  came  out  at 
every  step  "  of  the  Kashmir  tour  must  be  regarded  as  a 
flight  of  pure  fancy  on  the  part  of  a  writer  who  goes  out 
of  his  way  to  asperse  the  character  of  a  man  whose  worst 
failings  sprang  from  no  sordid  or  ignoble  source. 

In  this  connection  I  may  refer  again  to  the  testimony 
of  his  old  schoolfellow,  Mr.  Thomas  Arnold:  "  I  firmly 
believe  that  the  charges  and  imputations  which  have 
been  heaped  upon  his  memory  are  for  the  most  part 
false.  When  he  is  accused  of  peculation,  falsification 
of  accounts,  misappropriation  of  funds,  etc.,  I  should 
oppose,  unless  evidence  much  more  damaging  than  has 
yet  been  brought  forward  can  be  produced,  an  unhestitat- 
ing  negative.  I  do  not  believe  that  Hodson  was  capable 
of  base  or  ignoble  acts.  He  had  an  honest  and  upright 
nature."2  That  Hodson  was  the  "  soul  of  honour  "  has 
always  been  the  settled  conviction  of  that  other  school- 
fellow, Mr.  F.  A.  Foster,  with  whom  he  corresponded 
nearly  to  the  last.  Such  evidence  to  early  character 
counts  for  much  when  it  is  borne  out  by  the  concurrent 
testimony  of  those  who  knew  the  same  man  best  in 
after-years. 

1  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse. 
1  Passages  from  a  Wandering  Life.     By  Thomas  Arnold. 


92  Major  W.  Hodson 

"  Servetur  ad  imum 
Qualis  ab  incepto  processerit,  et  sibi  constet," 

is  a  sound  working  principle  in  life  as  well  as  art. 

To  return  to  Hodson  and  his  Simla  experiences  in 
October  1850.  In  a  letter  of  the  2ist,  written  under 
Thomason's  hospitable  roof,  he  says:  "The  change  to 
the  utter  comfort  and  civilisation  of  this  house  was  some- 
thing '  stunning ' ;  and  I  have  not  yet  become  quite 
reconciled  to  dressing  three  times  a-day,  black  hat,  and 
patent-leather  boots.  I  need  hardly  say,  however,  that 
I  have  very  much  enjoyed  my  visit  and  my  '  big  talks  ' 
with  Mr.  Thomason.  He  is  very  grey,  and  looks  older 
than  when  I  saw  him  in  1847,  but  otherwise  he  is  just 
the  same,  working  magnificently,  and  doing  wonders  for 
his  province.  Already  the  North- West  Provinces  are  a 
century  in  advance  of  the  Bengal  Proper  ones.  As  a 
governor  he  has  not  his  equal;  and  in  honesty,  high- 
mindedness,  and  indefatigable  devotion  to  the  public 
good,  he  is  facile  princeps  of  the  whole  Indian  service. 
Nor  is  there  a  household  in  India  to  match  his;  indeed 
it  is  about  the  only  '  big-wig '  house  to  which  people  go 
with  pleasure  rather  than  as  a  duty.  I  saw  Sir  Charles 
Napier,  too,  and  dined  with  him  last  week.  He  is  very 
kind  and  pleasant,  and  I  am  very  sorry  on  public  grounds 
that  he  is  going  away." 

On  November  4,  he  writes  from  Kussowlie:  "Mr. 
Thomason  will  have  told  you  of  the  power  of  civility  I 
met  with  at  Simla  from  the  '  big-wigs,'  and  that  even 
Lord  Dalhousie  waxed  complimentary,  and  said  that 
'  Lumsden  and  Hodson  were  about  the  best  men  he  had  ' 
(that  I  write  it  that  shouldn't !),  and  that  he  promised  to 
do  his  best  to  get  me  a  brevet  majority  as  soon  as  I 
became  in  the  course  of  time  a  regimental  captain.  And 
Sir  Charles  Napier  (the  best-abused  man  of  his  day)  was 
anxious  to  get  for  me  the  staff  appointment  of  brigade- 
major  to  the  Punjab  Irregular  Force — i.e.,  of  the  six 
newly  raised  cavalry  and  infantry  regiments  for  the 
frontier  service.  He  did  not  succeed,  for  the  berth  had 
been  previously  filled  up  unknown  to  him;  but  he  tried 
to  do  so,  and  that's  a  compliment  from  such  a  man.  I 
hope  I  need  not  say  that  this  good  deed  of  his  was  as 


From  Kashmir  to  Kussowlie        93 

spontaneous  as  a  mushroom's  birth.  ...  Sir  Henry  and 
Lady  Lawrence  have  both  repeatedly  charged  me  with 
kindly  greetings  to  you  all  and  to  the  Archdeacon.  I 
am  on  a  more  comfortable  footing  with  Sir  Henry  now 
than  ever  almost,  and  he  is,  as  you  know,  most  kind 
when  his  temper  is  good." 

About  this  time  he  was  appointed  to  act  as  personal 
assistant  to  Mr.  G.  Edmonstone,  then  Commissioner  for 
the  Cis-Satlaj  States.  In  spite  of  this  new  promotion, 
Hodson  "  hankered  after  the  Guides  as  much  as  ever, 
and  would  catch  at  a  good  opportunity  of  returning  to 
them  with  honour."  He  had  only  turned  civilian  against 
his  own  feelings,  at  the  advice  of  Sir  Henry  and  Mr. 
Thomason.  He  had  refused  six  months  ago  to  apply 
for  a  vacancy  in  the  corps  of  Guides,  because  he  knew 
that  Lumsden  would  disapprove  of  his  passing  over  the 
heads  of  senior  officers.  "  Now,"  he  writes,  "  both  Sir 
Henry  Lawrence  and  Mr.  Thomason  are  very  sorry  that 
I  ever  left  the  corps,  and  that  they  advised  the  step. 
Things  have  taken  a  different  turn  since  then,  and  it  is 
confessedly  the  best  thing  a  young  soldier  can  aspire  to. 
I  know  that  my  present  line  is  one  which  leads  to  more 
pecuniary  advantages;  but  the  other  is  the  finer  field, 
and  is  far  more  independent.  I  shall  work  away,  how- 
ever, cheerfully  in  the  civil  line  until  I  see  a  good  open- 
ing in  the  other,  and  then  I  fear  you  will  hardly  persuade 
me  that  sitting  at  a  desk  with  the  thermometer  at  98° 
is  better  than  soldiering — i.e.,  than  commanding  soldiers 
made  and  taught  by  yourself!  " 

Returning  to  Amritsar  in  the  middle  of  November, 
Hodson  was  "up  to  the  neck  in  work  "  for  about  three 
weeks  before  joining  his  new  chief  at  Lahore.  Here  he 
found  his  work  both  pleasanter  and  freer  from  routine 
than  that  which  he  had  left  behind.  At  Lahore  he 
employed  his  leisure  "  in  cramming  Hindi  for  a  use- 
less examination  in  a  tongue  unknown  on  this  side  the 
Ganges."  He  was  getting  "  tired  of  zeal — it  is  unprofit- 
able. For  the  future  I  mean  to  take  mine  ease.  I  see 
that  men  who  do  so  get  on  better  than  I  do,  and  enjoy 
themselves  much  more !  So  good-bye  to  enthusiasm  and 
zeal  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  I  have  hitherto  worked 


94  Major  W.  Hodson 

hard,  it  does  not  pay,  and  I  shall  try  what  taking  it 
coolly  will  do.  Seven  fevers,  a  broken  constitution,  a 
bald  head,  and  a  character  for  hard  work  are  all  that  I 
have  gained,  and  it  is  time  to  try  another  line."  l 

His  temper  at  this  time  seems  to  have  been  ruffled  by 
the  snubbings  he  had  incurred  from  the  authorities — 
*e  no  one  knows  why  or  wherefore." 

February  21,  1851,  the  anniversary  of  Gujarat,  was 
""  curiously  marked,"  he  writes,  "  by  the  announcement 
that  the  net  balance  of  receipts  over  expenditure  for  the 
past  year  for  the  newly  acquired  provinces  has  reached 
upwards  of  a  million  sterling.  Lord  Dalhousie's  star  is 
in  the  ascendant.  His  financial  measures  are  apparently 
all  good  when  tried  by  the  only  standard  admissible  in 
the  nineteenth  century — their  success." 

His  arrival  at  Kussowlie  towards  the  end  of  March 
wonderfully  refreshed  him  both  in  body  and  mind. 
"Talk  of  Indian  luxuries!  there  are  but  two — cold 
water  and  cool  air!  I  get  on  very  comfortably  with 
my  new  '  chief.'  He  is  a  first-rate  man,  and  has  a  most 
uncommon  appetite  for  work,  of  which  there  is  plenty 
for  both  of  us.  We  cover  a  good  stretch  of  country — 
comprising  five  British  districts  and  nine  sovereign  states ; 
and  as  the  whole  has  been  in  grievous  disorder  for  many 
years,  and  a  peculiarly  difficult  population  to  deal  with, 
you  may  imagine  that  the  work  is  not  slight.  ...  I  was 
at  work  a  whole  day  lately  over  one  case,  which,  after 
all,  involved  only  a  claim  to  about  a  quarter  of  an  acre 
of  land!  You  will  give  me  credit  for  ingenuity  in  dis- 
covering that  the  result  of  some  half-dozen  quires  of 
written  evidence  was  to  prove  that  neither  of  the  con- 
tending parties  had  any  right  at  all !  " 

Hodson  had  been  staying  for  a  time  with  Captain 
Douglas  of  the  6oth  Rifles.  "  There  is  not  a  better  man 
or  more  genuine  soldier  going.  This  may  appear  faint 
praise,  but  rightly  understood,  and  conscientiously  and 
boldly  worked  out,  I  doubt  whether  any  other  profession 
calls  forth  the  higher  qualities  of  our  nature  more  strongly 
than  does  that  of  a  soldier  in  times  of  war  and  tumults. 
Certain  it  is  that  it  requires  the  highest  order  of  man 
1  Letters  supplied  by  Miss  Hodson. 


From  Kashmir  to  Kussowlie        95 

to  be  a  good  general,  and  in  the  lower  ranks  (in  this 
country  especially),  even  with  all  the  frightful  drawbacks 
and  evils,  I  doubt  whether  the  Saxon  race  is  ever  so 
pre-eminent,  or  its  good  points  so  strongly  developed, 
as  in  the  '  European '  soldier  serving  in  India,  or  on 
service  anywhere." 

His  word-picture  of  the  view  which  his  own  house 
commanded  from  the  top  of  a  ridge  some  8000  feet  above 
sea-level  deserves  quoting  here:  "  In  the  immediate  fore- 
ground rises  a  round-backed  ridge,  on  which  stands  the 
former  work  of  my  hands,  the  '  Lawrence  Asylum  ' ; 
while  to  the  westward,  and  down,  down  far  off  in  the 
interminable  south,  the  wide  glistening  plains  of  the 
Punjab,  streaked  with  the  faint  ribbon-like  lines  of  the 
Satlaj  and  its  tributaries,  and  the  wider  sea-like  expanse 
of  Hindustan,  stretch  away  in  unbroken  evenness  beyond 
the  limits  of  vision,  and  almost  beyond  those  of  faith 
and  imagination.  On  the  other  side  you  look  over  a 
mass  of  mountains  up  to  the  topmost  peak  of  Himalaya. 
So  narrow  is  the  ridge  that  it  seems  as  though  you  could 
toss  a  pebble  from  one  window  into  the  Satlaj,  and  from 
the  other  into  the  valley  below  Simla." 

After  seven  or  eight  hours'  work  he  spent  the  rest  of 
his  day  in  the  society  of  the  6oth  Rifles — "  the  very 
nicest  and  most  gentlemanly  regiment  I  ever  met  with." 

In  May,  Hodson's  spirits  were  greatly  raised  not  only 
by  the  receipt  of  letters  from  home,  but  also  by  his 
advancement  to  the  higher  grade  of  assistants  to  Com- 
missioners in  the  Punjab.  Of  the  letters  from  home  he 
writes:  "It  is  very  pleasant  to  receive  these  warm 
greetings,  and  it  refreshes  me  when  bothered  or  over- 
worked, or  feverish,  or  disgusted.  I  look  forward  to  a 
visit  to  England  and  home  with  a  pleasure  which  nothing 
but  six  years  of  exile  can  give." 

With  regard  to  his  new  official  rank,  it  appears  that 
Lord  Dalhousie  had  yielded  at  last  to  the  friendly 
pressure  exerted  by  Hodson's  superiors,  especially  by 
Mr.  Edmonstone,  who  had  "  commenced  attacking  him 
in  my  favour  before  I  had  been  under  him  four  months." 

To  the  Rev.  E.  Harland  he  writes  on  June  n:  "  The 
old  visions  of  boyhood  have  given  place  to  the  vehement 


96  Major  W.  Hodson 

aspirations  of  a  military  career  and  the  interests  of  a 
larger  ambition.  I  thirst  now  not  for  the  calm  pleasures 
of  a  country  life,  the  charms  of  society,  or  a  career  of 
ease  and  comfort,  but  for  the  maddening  excitement  of 
war,  the  keen  contest  of  wits  involved  in  dealing  with 
wilder  men,  and  the  exercise  of  power  over  the  many 
by  force  of  the  will  of  the  individual.  Nor  am  I,  I  hope, 
insensible  to  the  vast  field  for  good  and  for  usefulness 
which  these  vast  provinces  offer  to  our  energies,  and  to 
the  high  importance  of  the  trust  committed  to  our  charge." 

In  October  of  the  same  year  he  writes  to  his  father: 
"  By  the  end  of  next  summer  I  hope  to  be  as  strong  as 
I  ever  hope  to  be  again.  That  I  shall  ever  again  be  able 
to  row  from  Cambridge  to  Ely  in  two  hours  and  ten 
minutes,  to  run  a  mile  in  five  minutes,  or  to  walk  from 
Skye  (or  Kyle  Hatren  Ferry)  to  Inverness  in  thirty  hours, 
is  not  to  be  expected,  or  perhaps  desired.  But  I  have 
every  hope  that  in  the  event  of  another  war  I  may  be 
able  to  endure  fatigue  and  exposure  as  freely  as  in 
1848.  ...  I  have  no  doubt  that  matrimony  will  do 
me  a  power  of  good,  and  that  I  shall  be  not  only  better, 
but  happier,  and  more  careless  than  hitherto." 

Hodson  had  just  been  deeply  grieved  by  the  death  of 
Colonel  Bradshaw,  who  had  commanded  the  6oth  Rifles 
in  the  second  Sikh  war.  "  He  was  the  beau  ideal  of  an 
English  soldier  and  gentleman,  and  would  have  earned 
himself  a  name  as  a  general  had  he  been  spared.  A 
finer  and  nobler  spirit  there  was  not  in  the  army.  I 
feel  it  as  a  deep  personal  loss,  for  he  won  my  esteem 
and  regard  in  no  common  degree." 


CHAPTER  X 

MARRIAGE  AND   PROMOTION   TO   THE   COMMAND   OF 
THE  GUIDES.      1852-1854 

TOWARDS  the  close  of  1851,  Hodson  went  down  to  Calcutta 
eager  to  meet  and  welcome  his  future  wife.  During  his 
stay  in  the  city  of  palaces  he  made  the  acquaintance  and 
won  the  friendship  of  the  late  Mr.  Frederick  Lushington, 
then  holding  a  prominent  post  in  the  Civil  Service  of 
Lower  Bengal.  A  subsequent  letter  to  Miss  Hodson 
gives  Mr.  Lushington's  impressions  of  his  new  friend's 
character  and  appearance: — 

"  His  height  struck  me  as  about  5  feet  u  inches, 
remarkably  well  made,  lithe,  and  agile;  his  hair  had 
slightly  receded  from  a  high  and  most  intellectual  fore- 
head, and  was  light  brown  and  curly;  his  eyes  were 
blue,  but,  far  from  being  soft  and  gentle,  were  animated 
by  a  peculiarly  determined  and  sometimes  even  fierce 
look,  which  might  occasionally  change  to  one  of  mis- 
chievous merriment,  for  he  was  keenly  susceptible  of 
'  the  ridiculous  '  in  whatever  shape  it  manifested  itself, 
but  usually  his  look  impressed  one  at  once  with  that 
idea  of  his  determination  and  firmness  which  have  ever 
characterised  his  actions;  his  nose  was  inclining  to  the 
aquiline,  and  the  curved  thin  nostrils  added  a  look  of 
defiance  in  no  ways  counteracted  by  the  compressed  lips, 
which  seemed  to  denote  many  an  inward  struggle  between 
duty  and  inclination. 

"  These  are  my  impressions  of  your  brother  as  I  last 
saw  him,  and  if  you  add  to  this  an  open  frank  manner 
that,  bon  gre  mat  gre,  impressed  you  favourably  at  first 
sight  with  the  owner,  you  will  have  the  charming  en- 
semble that  presides  over  my  recollections  of  three  as 
happy  weeks  as  I  ever  passed." 1 

On   the    5th  of   January,   1852,   Lieutenant  William 
1  MS.  letter  to  Miss  Hodson. 

97  G 


98  Major  W.  Hodson 

Hodson  was  married  at  the  cathedral  in  Calcutta  to 
Susan,  daughter  of  Captain  C.  Henry,  R.N.,  and  widow 
of  John  Mitford,  Esq.,  of  Exbury,  Hants.  They  had 
met  for  the  first  tim'e  in  Guernsey.  "  She  is  wonderfully 
little  altered,"  writes  Hodson,  "  since  I  saw  her  in  1844, 
and  being  in  better  health,  she  looks  younger.  Sir 
Lawrence  Peel  has  placed  a  house  at  our  disposal  here, 
and  we  are  very  comfortable  indeed  and  supremely  happy." 

"  In  the  cold  weather  of  1851-52,"  writes  Mr.  Seton- 
Karr,  "  I  was  surprised  one  morning  to  receive  a  letter 
from  Hodson  saying  that  he  was  on  his  way  to  Calcutta 
to  receive  Mrs.  Mitford,  the  lady  whom  he  was  engaged 
to  marry.  I  was  then  Under  Secretary  in  Lord  Dal- 
housie's  Government,  and  received  Hodson  in  my  house 
in  Camac  Street.  He  brought  with  him  as  attendant  a 
faithful  Afghan,  who,  he  assured  me,  had  been  with 
Eldred  Pottinger  and  had  seen  thousands  of  Persians 
and,  as  he  averred,  Russians  to  boot,  hurled  back  from 
the  walls  of  Herat,  in  1838. 

"  Hodson's  marriage  was  quite  private.  No  one  was 
present  except  myself,  the  late  Sir  Frederick  Currie,  then 
a  member  of  the  Supreme  Council,  and  Sir  Lawrence 
Peel,  the  Chief- Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Calcutta. 
Hodson  then  returned  to  his  duty  in  the  Punjab,  and 
we  never  met  again." 

Hodson  himself  was  glad  to  get  away  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible from  the  capital  of  Bengal.  "  I  hate  Calcutta  with 
no  common  dislike,  and  hope  this  will  be  my  last  visit 
to  the  city  of  palaces  and  uncovered  drains." 

After  a  short  but  pleasant  visit  to  Mr.  Thomason  at 
Agra — "  we  have  nothing  which  kindness  could  suggest 
left  undone  for  us  " — the  newly-wedded  pair  reached 
Umballa  in  the  first  week  of  March  1852.  Here  the  call 
of  duty  compelled  Hodson  to  separate  from  his  wife, 
whom  he  left  for  the  time  in  the  charge  of  Colonel  and 
Mrs.  Trevor  Wheler.  He  himself  had  to  make  the  best 
of  his  way  to  Ludhiana  in  order  to  "try  a  lot  of  gentle- 
men who  have  devoted  their  youthful  energies  to  strang- 
ling their  neighbours  by  the  simple  art  of  Tkuggi."  x 

Early  in  April  he  appears  to  have  joined  the  camp 
1  Letters  supplied  by  Miss  Hodson. 


Command  of  the  Guides  99 

of  Sir  William  Gomm,  the  new  commander-in-chief  at 
Patiala.  On  the  i3th  he  writes  to  his  wife  that  he  had 
been  nearly  worked  off  his  feet.  The  commander-in- 
chief  was  to  start  at  10  A.M.  for  the  hills,  while  he  him- 
self intended  to  ride  on  and  breakfast  with  Mr.  Lewin 
Bowring  at  Umballa  on  his  way  back  to  Kussowlie. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  war  with  Burmah  he  prepared 
to  rejoin  his  regiment,  the  ist  Bengal  Fusiliers,  which 
had  been  despatched  down  the  Ganges  to  Calcutta  in 
order  to  take  part  in  the  war.  But  the  Governor-General 
saw  no  reason  for  allowing  officers  on  civil  employ  to 
rejoin  their  regiments  in  the  usual  manner,  and  Hodson 
was  "  thus  spared  what  would  have  been  a  very  fatiguing 
and  expensive  trip,  with  very  little  hope  of  seeing  any 
fighting."  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  his  soldierly 
instincts  and  aspirations  were  to  be  gratified  by  his 
appointment  to  the  post  he  coveted  beyond  all  others. 
On  September  23,  he  writes  from  Kussowlie: — 

"  Lumsden,  my  old  commandant  in  the  Guides,  goes 
to  England  next  month,  and  the  Governor-General  has 
given  me  the  command  which  I  have  coveted  so  long. 
It  is  immense  good  fortune  in  every  way,  both  as  regards 
income  and  distinction.  It  is  accounted  the  most  honour- 
able and  arduous  command  on  the  frontier,  and  fills  the 
public  eye,  as  the  papers  say,  more  than  any  other. 

"  This  at  the  end  of  seven  years'  service  is  a  great 
thing,  especially  on  such  a  frontier  as  Peshawar,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Khaiber  Pass.  You  will  agree  with  me  in 
rejoicing  at  the  opportunities  for  distinction  thus  offered 
to  me." 

Mr.  Thomason  congratulated  Hodson  most  sincerely 
on  the  new  career  thus  opened  before  him.  "  I  have 
never  ceased  to  reproach  myself  for  advising  you  to 
leave  the  corps,  but  now  that  you  have  the  command, 
you  will  be  all  the  better  for  the  dose  of  civilianism  that 
has  been  intermediately  administered  to  you." 

Meanwhile  he  had  taken  his  wife  up  to  Simla  for 
change  of  air  and  medical  advice.  "  She  is  now  quite 
well,"  he  writes,  "  and  rejoices  in  the  prospect  of  Pesha- 
war almost  as  much  as  I  do.  ...  There  is  a  beautiful 
hill  station  near  Rawal  Pindi,  where  she  can  go  and  take 


ioo  Major  W.  Hodson 

refuge  whenever  the  weather  is  hot  at  Peshawar.  On 
October  7,  he  writes  from  Kussowlie  to  congratulate  his 
old  friend  the  Rev.  F.  A.  Foster  on  his  promotion  to  the 
living  of  Saxby. 

"  I  know  the  neighbourhood,  my  father's  brother,  who 
lives  at  Goole  on  the  Humber,  having  introduced  me  in 
1833  to  the  banks  of  the  muddiest  of  rivers  and  its  Danish 
associations.  Curiously  enough,  your  letter  reached  me 
just  as  I  also  had  attained  the  great  object  of  my  ambition 
in  India,  the  command  of  the  corps  of  Guides.  The 
Governor-General  gave  me  this  distinguished  command 
in  the  most  flattering  manner,  in  acknowledgment  of 
services  during  the  last  war  in  the  Punjab,  although  I 
am  unprecedentedly  young  (in  the  service!!)  for  such  a 
command.  I  obtain  the  command  of  900  men  (a  battalion 
of  infantry  and  a  squadron  and  a  half  of  cavalry)  with 
four  European  officers.  To  make  it  a  more  decided  com- 
pliment, one  of  the  officers  is  my  senior  in  the  army !  and 
men  twice  and  three  times  my  standing  were  desirous  of 
the  post. 

"  My  good  wife,"  he  adds,  "  and  I  have  been  separated 
for  some  time,  with  only  an  occasional  '  lucid  interval ' 
for  a  day  or  two.  I  am  tied  to  this  hill  by  my  official 
duties,  but  it  disagreed  so  much  with  her  that  I  was 
obliged  to  send  her  to  Simla — thirty-five  miles  off.  She 
is  now  quite  well — thank  God  for  her — and  rides  her 
fifteen  miles  before  breakfast  without  fatigue!  We  hope 
to  set  out  for  Peshawar  (500  miles  off,  and  neither  roads 
nor  railroads!!)  in  a  few  days." 

The  military  secretary  to  the  Punjab  Board  had  just 
been  offering  to  exchange  appointments  with  him;  but 
"  though  I  should  gain,  and  he  would  lose  £200  a-year, 
by  the  '  swop,'  I  would  not  listen  to  him.  I  prefer  the 
saddle  to  the  desk,  the  frontier  to  a  respectable,  wheel- 
going,  dinner-giving,  dressy  life  at  the  capital;  and 
ambition  to  money! " 

On  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  Peshawar  he  received 
a  farewell  note  from  Mr.  Edmonstone,  who  would  not 
have  him  go  away  without  thanking  him  heartily  for  the 
support  and  assistance  he  had  always  given  him  "in  all 
matters,  whether  big  or  little,  since  you  joined  me,  now 


Command  of  the  Guides         101 

twenty  months  and  more  ago.  I  have  in  my  civil  and 
criminal  reports  for  the  past  year  recorded  my  sense  of 
your  services  and  your  official  merits ;  but  our  connection 
has  been  peculiar,  and  your  position  has  been  one  which 
few  would  have  filled  either  so  efficiently  or  so  agreeably 
to  all  parties.  You  have  afforded  me  the  greatest  aid  in 
the  most  irksome  part  of  my  duty,  and  have  always  with 
the  utmost  readiness  undertaken  anything,  no  matter 
what,  that  I  asked  you  to  dispose  of,  and  I  owe  you  more 
on  this  account  than  a  mere  official  acknowledgment  can 
repay  adequately." 

Writing  from  Peshawar  on  October  31,  to  the  wife 
whom  he  had  left  at  Simla,  he  describes  the  station  there 
as  "  a  beautiful  place  and  when  more  houses  are  built  it 
will  be  the  best  station  in  India." 

"  My  good  friend  Lumsden,"  he  writes  a  week  later, 
"  has  exceeded  all  I  expected  in  the  way  he  has  left 
affairs,  and  I  have  no  slight  work  in  organising  and 
arranging  the  economical  details  of  the  regiment:  for- 
tunately, Turner  is  a  good  hand  at  business  and  accounts, 
and  we  shall  get  all  things  straight,  no  doubt,  in  time." 
On  November  8,  the  day  on  which  Mrs.  Hodson  was  to 
begin  her  journey  from  Simla  to  Jalandhar,  her  husband 
was  encamped  at  Haripur,  among  the  mountains  of 
Hazara,  in  company  with  his  friend  Colonel  Mackeson, 
then  Commissioner  of  Peshawar.  From  Pakli,  on  Novem- 
ber 14,  he  writes,  "  We  are  lying  peacefully  here,  and  not 
a  shot  will  be  fired  in  this  direction." 

He  had  marched  off,  in  fact,  at  the  head  of  his  Guides 
to  establish  peace  and  order  among  the  wild  tribes  of 
Hazara,  who  only  three  years  before  had  yielded  to  the 
kindly  rule  of  Major  James  Abbot.  The  country  through 
which  he  was  marching  extends  north-eastward  of  Attock 
along  the  left  bank  of  the  Indus.  ' '  We  are  now  (December 
1 6)  in  an  elevated  valley,  surrounded  by  snowy  moun- 
tains, and  mighty  cold  it  is,  too,  at  night.  We  have 
come  about  125  miles  from  Peshawar,  and  having  marched 
up  the  hill,  are  patiently  expecting  the  order  to  march 
down  again."  In  his  opinion  "  the  storm  Colonel  Mac- 
keson brewed  seems  most  absurd,  and  I  hope  it  will  soon 
be  over." 


102  Major  W.  Hodson 

In  a  previous  letter  from  Pakli  he  had  written:  "  It 
is  utterly  useless  for  us  to  be  here  now.  I  left  camp 
before  daylight  yesterday,  and  did  not  get  back  to  break- 
fast till  5  P.M.  There  had  been  a  fight  between  the 
natives,  and  I  was  sent  to  see  what  had  happened."  In 
his  account  of  what  had  happened  he  spoke  of  the  natives 
stringing  the  ears  of  their  victims  to  show  how  many 
they  had  killed.  On  the  i4th  he  had  written  to  Mrs. 
Hodson:  "You  will  be  at  Lahore  to-day,  and  I  shall 
hear  of  your  impressions  of  my  good  friend  indeed,  Sir 
H.  Lawrence,  and  his  Irish  lady.  I  am  charmed  by  the 
arrival  in  camp  of  my  good  friend  Colonel  Napier,  whom 
you  would  like,  I  am  sure.  He  is  to  me  a  most  lovable 
person."  Three  days  later  he  writes  to  her  again  from 
Pakli,  "  At  last  the  force  has  moved  off  this  hateful 
spot,  and  moved  on  towards  the  enemy,  and  I  have 
remained  behind  to  assist  Colonel  Napier  in  surveying 
the  country." 

On  the  24th  he  begs  his  wife  to  assure  Sir  Henry  that 
he  is  "  deeply  grateful  to  him  for  all  he  has  done  for  me. 
I  hear  he  thinks  I  am  not  so.  I  am  glad  you  like  Neville 
Chamberlain;  he  is  an  admirable  man  in  all  ways.  I 
often  wish  I  was  more  like  him." 

The  campaign,  however,  was  not  to  end  quite  so  peace- 
fully as  Hodson  had  expected.  On  January  3,  1853,  he 
tells  his  wife  that  "  the  last  few  days  have  been  an  in- 
cessant exertion  and  fatigue,  and  nothing  but  unwearying 
toil  and  great  care  and  skill  saved  us  from  great  loss,  and 
we  have  rejoined  the  camp  after  this  most  successful 
expedition,  as  it  has  proved."  Next  day  he  writes  again: 
"  I  may  say  you  have  no  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  your 
soldier  husband.  It  was  the  most  difficult  and  arduous 
affair  I  was  ever  engaged  in,  and  Colonel  Napier's  ready 
attention  to  any  suggestion  of  mine  was  very  gratifying 
to  me." 

The  enemy,  in  fact,  had  not  given  way  without  some 
hard  fighting.  One  engagement,  which  lasted  from  sun- 
rise to  sunset,  gave  Hodson  a  fine  opportunity  of  showing 
with  what  skill  and  coolness  he  could  handle  his  Guides 
in  mountain  warfare  under  the  most  trying  conditions. 
In  speaking  afterwards  of  this  campaign,  Lord  Napier 


Command  of  the  Guides         103 

declared  to  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Hodson,  "  Your  brother's 
unfailing  fun  and  spirits,  which  seemed  only  raised  by 
what  we  had  to  go  through,  kept  us  all  alive  and  merry, 
so  that  we  looked  back  upon  it  afterwards  as  a  party  of 
pleasure,  and  thought  we  had  never  enjoyed  anything 
more." 

"  It  was  a  good  thing,"  writes  Hodson  on  March  13, 
from  Peshawar,  "  that  I  had  the  opportunity  of  leading 
the  regiment  into  action  so  soon  after  getting  the  com- 
mand, and  that  the  brunt  of  the  whole  should  have  fallen 
upon  us,  as  it  placed  the  older  men  and  myself  once  more 
on  our  old  footing  of  confidence  in  one  another,  and 
introduced  me  to  the  younger  hands  as  their  leader  when 
they  needed  one.  ...  I  need  therefore  only  add  that  it 
was  the  hardest  piece  of  service,  while  it  lasted,  I  have 
seen  with  the  Guides,  both  as  regards  the  actual  fighting, 
the  difficulties  of  the  ground  (a  rugged  mountain  7000 
feet  high,  and  densely  wooded),  and  the  exposure." 

In  the  previous  November,  Hodson  and  Lumsden  had 
exchanged  warm  farewell  greetings  at  Peshawar.  Late 
in  the  following  January,  Lumsden  began  his  voyage 
homeward  from  that  city  of  palaces,  which  he  loved  as 
little  as  did  his  former  subaltern.  On  January  23, 
Lumsden  writes  to  Hodson  from  aboard  the  ship  Monarch  : 
"  Yesterday  I  had  two  whole  hours  with  the  Governor- 
General,  who  is  delighted  with  the  work  you  have  been 
doing  in  Hazara,  and  I  congratulate  you  most  sincerely 
in  your  commencement  as  a  commandant  of  Guides. 
There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind,  from  what  the  Lord  said, 
but  that  you  will  very  soon  have  a  considerable  increase 
to  the  dear  old  regiment,  which  I  am  sure  will  delight 
you  all.  Don't  say  a  word  about  this  till  the  order  is 
out,  as  it  would  rile  the  little  Lord  considerably  to  hear 
that  the  report  had  got  abroad.  I  write  to  you,  as  you 
may  like  to  think  over  what  lads  to  promote  and  in  what 
particular  description  of  men  you  would  make  the 
additions.  You  will  probably  get  your  cavalry  made  up 
to  400  sabres  and  the  infantry  to  600  or  800  rifles.  This, 
of  course,  is  my  own  speculation,  but  the  increase  you 
may  look  on  as  pucka. 

Hodson's  regiment  during  the  campaign  consisted  of 


104  Major  W.  Hodson 

five  English  officers,  including  the  surgeon,  Dr.  Lyell: 
"  Then  I  have  300  horse,  including  native  officers,  and 
550  foot,  or  850  men  in  all,  divided  into  three  troops  and 
six  companies,  the  latter  armed  as  riflemen."  In  order 
to  prevent  the  danger  of  secret  combinations,  no  two 
troops  or  companies  contained  men  of  the  same  race. 
One  company,  for  instance,  was  composed  of  Sikhs, 
another  of  Afridis.  Pathans,  Gurkhas,  and  Punjabi 
Mussulmans,  each  formed  a  separate  troop  or  company; 
in  each  case,  also,  the  native  officers  were  of  a  different 
race  from  the  men. 

About  this  time  Hodson  had  been  asked  to  take  civil 
charge  of  the  wild  district  of  Yuzafzai,  on  the  northern 
frontier  of  the  Peshawar  valley,  which  would  form  the 
usual  headquarters  of  the  Guides.  This  charge  he  refused 
to  undertake  unless  he  could  have  the  entire  control  in 
all  departments  of  civil  work.  This  he  presently  obtained, 
as  appears  from  his  letter  of  June  4:  "  We  are  encamped 
[near  Peshawar]  on  a  lovely  spot,  on  the  banks  of  the 
swift  and  bright  river,  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  on  the 
watch  for  incursions  or  forays,  and  to  guard  the  richly 
cultivated  plain  of  the  Peshawar  valley  from  depreda- 
tions from  the  hills.  We  are  ready,  of  course,  to  boot 
and  saddle  at  all  hours ;  our  rifles  and  carbines  are  loaded, 
and  our  swords  keen  and  bright;  and  woe  to  the  luckless 
chief  who,  trusting  to  his  horses,  descends  upon  the  plain 
too  near  our  pickets!  Meanwhile  I  am  civil  as  well  as 
military  chief,  and  the  natural  taste  of  the  Yuzafzai 
Pathans  for  broken  heads,  murder,  and  violence,  as  v/ell 
as  their  litigiousness  about  their  lands,  keeps  me  very 
hard  at  work  from  day  to  day." 

It  occurs  to  him  that  such  a  life  might  be  better  suited 
to  a  careless  bachelor  than  to  "  a  husband  with  such  a 
wife  as  mine,"  Mrs.  Hodson  having  been  ordered  to  the 
hills  at  the  beginning  of  May,  and  it  might  be  six  months 
before  they  met  again. 

In  the  same  letter  he  describes  his  mannner  of  life: 
"  A  daybreak  parade  or  inspection,  a  gallop  across  the 
plain  to  some  outpost,  a  plunge  in  the  river,  and  then  an 
early  breakfast,  occupy  your  time  until  9  A.M.  Then 
come  a  couple  of  corpses,  whose  owners  (late)  had  their 


Command  of  the  Guides         105 

heads  broken  overnight,  and  consequent  investigations 
and  examinations ;  next  a  batch  of  villagers  to  say  their 
crops  are  destroyed  by  a  storm,  and  no  rents  forth- 
coming. Then  a  scream  of  woe  from  a  plundered  farm 
on  the  frontier,  and  next  a  grain-dealer  to  say  his  camels 
have  been  carried  off  to  the  hills.  Is  not  this  a  dainty 
dish  to  set  before — your  brother?  Then  each  of  my 
900  men  considers  me  bound  to  listen  to  any  amount 
of  stories  he  may  please  to  invent  or  remember  of  his 
own  private  griefs  and  troubles;  and  last,  not  least,  there 
are  four  young  gentlemen  who  have  each  his  fancy,  and 
who  often  give  more  trouble  in  transacting  business  than 
assistance  in  doing  it.  However,  I  have  no  right  to 
complain,  for  I  am  about — yes,  quite — the  most  fortunate 
man  in  the  service;  and  have  I  not  the  right  to  call 
myself  the  happiest  also,  with  such  a  wife  and  such  a 
home?  " 

In  February  of  this  year,  1853,  Sir  Henry  Lawrence 
quitted  the  Punjab  for  ever,  to  the  grief  of  all  who  had 
served  under  him.  The  time  had  come,  in  Dalhousie's 
opinion,  for  remodelling  the  government  of  his  new 
provinces  and  placing  a  single  man  at  its  head.  Sir 
Henry,  therefore,  took  up  the  duties  of  agent  to  the 
Governor-General  in  Rajputana,  while  his  younger  brother 
John  became  Chief  Commissioner  for  the  Punjab.  Sir 
Henry,  however,  amidst  his  own  personal  grievances,  did 
not  forget  the  friends  he  had  left  behind  him.  On  the 
1 3th  of  July  he  wrote: — 

"  I  hope  Mrs.  Hodson  and  yourself  are  alive.  Pray 
inform  me  of  the  fact  and  of  your  whereabouts,  etc.,  etc. 

"  By  last  mail  I  wrote  to  Lord  Hardinge  *  and  asked 
him  to  get  you  brevet  rank.  You  had  better  write  to 
Sir  C.  Napier  (but  don't  use  my  name,  or  it  might  do  you 

1  In  the  letter  to  Lord  Hardinge  Sir  Henry  said:  "  The  Guide 
Corps  you  raised  at  my  request  has  held  its  ground  as  the  best 
irregular  corps  in  India.  The  present  commander  is  a  young  fellow, 
Hodson  by  name,  whom  you  gave  me  at  Lahore  in  1847.  He  is  a. 
first-rate  soldier,  and  as  your  lordship  likes  young  officers  in  com- 
mand, I  beg  to  bring  him  to  your  notice  for  a  brevet  majority.  Sir 
C.  Napier  thinks  highly  of  him,  and,  I  believe,  held  out  to  him 
hopes  of  the  rank.  Hodson  is  a  most  ambitious  and  most  gallant 
fellow,  and  very  able  in  all  departments." — Merivale's  Life  of  Sir 
Henry  Lawrence. 


106  Major  W.  Hodson 

Tiarm)  and  say  that  if  he  moves  in  your  favour,  you  think 
Lord  Hardinge  will  agree.  If  you  could  get  local  rank 
till  you  are  a  captain  it  would  be  a  great  matter.  Say 
nothing  to  any  one  on  the  matter." 

Mrs.  Hodson  had  gone  to  the  hill  station  of  Marri, 
about  140  miles  from  Peshawar.  Here  in  the  middle  of 
September  Hodson  was  "  enjoying  a  little  holiday  from 
arms  and  kutchery  up  in  the  cool  with  Susie."  In  the 
same  letter  he  declares  that  the  whole  upper  part  of 
the  Punjab  is  mountainous.  "  If  you  draw  a  line  from 
Peshawar,  through  Rawal  Pindi,  to  Simla  or  Sabathu, 
or  any  place  marked  on  the  maps  thereabouts,  you  may 
assume  that  all  to  the  north  of  that  line  is  mountain 
country.  .  .  .  The  Peshawar  valley  is  a  wide  open  plain 
lying  on  the  banks  of  the  Kabul  river,  about  sixty  miles 
long  by  forty  broad,  encircled  by  mountains,  some  of 
them  covered  with  snow  for  eight  or  nine  months  of  the 
year.  Yuzafzai  is  the  north-eastern  portion  of  this  valley, 
embraced  between  the  Kabul  river  and  the  Indus.  Half 
of  Yuzafzai  (the  '  abode  of  the  children  of  Joseph ')  is 
mountain,  but  we  only  hold  the  level  or  plain  part  of  it. 
Nevertheless,  a  large  part  of  my  little  province  is  very 
hilly.  In  the  north-east  corner  of  Yuzafzai,  hanging  over 
the  Indus,  is  a  vast  lump  of  a  hill  called  '  Mahabun  '  (or 
the  '  great  forest '),  thickly  peopled  on  its  slopes,  and 
giving  shelter  to  some  12,000  armed  men,  the  bitterest 
bigots  which  even  Islam  can  produce.  The  hill  is  about 
7800  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  This  has  been 
identified  by  the  wise  men  with  the  Aornos  of  Arrian, 
and  Alexander  is  supposed  to  have  crossed  the  Indus 
at  its  foot.  .  .  . 

"  Poor  Colonel  Mackeson,  the  Commissioner  at  Pesha- 
war (the  chief  civil  and  political  officer  for  the  frontier), 
was  stabbed  a  few  days  ago  by  a  fanatic  while  sitting  in 
his  verandah  reading.  The  fellow  was  from  Swat,  and 
said  he  had  heard  that  we  were  going  to  invade  his 
country,  and  that  he  would  try  to  stop  it,  and  go  to 
heaven  as  a  martyr  for  the  faith.  Poor  Mackeson  is  still 
alive,  but  in  a  very  precarious  state,  I  fear." 

Mackeson  lingered  only  a  few  days.  The  death  of  such 
a  man,  said  Lord  Dalhousie,  "  would  have  dimmed  a 


Command  of  the  Guides          107 

victory."  In  the  summer  of  1850,  he  had  succeeded 
George  Lawrence  as  Commissioner  of  Peshawar.  The 
blow  which  prematurely  closed  his  career  opened  to  his 
successor,  Herbert  Edwardes,  the  road  to  achievements 
yet  more  splendid  than  any  which  had  marked  his  brilliant 
past. 

In  the  same  month  of  September,,  Hodson  was  saddened 
by  the  death  of  his  friend  James  Thomason,  in  his  fiftieth 
year,  at  the  moment  when  one  of  the  highest  prizes  open 
to  a  Company's  servant,  the  governorship  of  Madras,  had 
come  within  his  grasp.  "  His  death,"  wrote  Hodson  on 
October  15,  "is  an  irreparable  loss  to  his  family  and 
friends,  but  it  will  be  even  more  felt  in  his  public  capacity. 
He  had  not  been  ill,  but  died  from  sheer  debility  and 
exhaustion  produced  by  overwork  and  application  in  the 
trying  season  just  over.  Had  he  gone  to  the  hills  all 
would  have  been  right.  I  cannot  but  think  that  he 
sacrificed  himself  as  an  example  to  others.  You  may 
imagine  how  much  I  have  felt  the  loss  of  my  earliest  and 
best  friend  in  India,  to  whom  I  was  accustomed  to  detail 
all  my  proceedings,  and  whom  I  was  wont  to  consult  in 
every  difficulty  and  doubt." 

Of  Thomason's  public  career  every  one  may  allow, 
with  Lord  Dalhousie,  that  if  even  he  "  had  left  no  other 
memorial  of  his  public  life  behind  him,  his  system  of 
general  vernacular  education,  which  is  all  his  own,  would 
have  sufficed  to  build  up  for  him  a  noble  and  abiding 
monument  of  his  earthly  career." 

Not  long  after  Hodson's  return  to  his  Guides,  he  heard 
that  his  wife  was  about  to  become  a  mother.  Riding 
hard  all  night  from  Peshawar  to  Rawal  Pindi,  he  was 
just  in  time  to  greet  the  arrival  of  the  little  stranger, 
and  to  see  that  all  was  well  with  Mrs.  Hodson  before 
returning  to  his  post  near  Peshawar. 

Before  the  end  of  November,  Hodson  was  once  more 
leading  his  Guides  in  a  short  but  brilliant  campaign  in 
the  hills  between  Peshawar  and  Kohat.  The  Bori  Afridis 
were  threatening  to  block  the  passes  that  lay  between 
the  two  stations,  and  it  became  necessary  to  teach  these 
persistent  raiders  that  we  could  beat  them  on  their  own 
ground.  On  the  morning  of  November  29,  a  select  force 


io8  Major  W.  Hodson 

of  Europeans,  Guides,  and  Gurkhas,  was  led  out  by 
Brigadier  Boileau  from  camp  at  Adizai  to  dislodge  the 
enemy  from  the  heights  which  formed  their  outer  line  of 
defence.1  Thanks  to  the  quick  turning  movement  carried 
out  by  Hodson's  infantry,  this  preliminary  task  was  soon 
accomplished.  From  the  valley  beyond  rose  a  steep  wall 
of  rocks  and  crags,  at  the  foot  of  which  were  three  Bori 
villages. 

Up  these  forbidding  crags  swarmed  Hodson's  dashing 
Guides  and  Turner's  sturdy  little  Gurkhas,  driving  the 
enemy  from  rock  to  rock,  and  finally  holding  them  at 
bay  for  several  hours,  while  the  regular  troops  were 
employed  in  sacking  and  burning  the  villages  below. 
This  work  over,  the  whole  force  about  3  P.M.  began  falling 
back  to  its  former  halting-ground.  To  retire  in  the  face 
of  a  foe  now  numbering  more  than  2000  was  a  task  hardly 
less  difficult  than  the  previous  advance.  "  The  with- 
drawal of  the  Guides  and  Gurkhas,"  says  an  admiring 
eye-witness,  "  was  most  exciting,  and  none  but  the  best 
officers  and  the  best  men  could  have  achieved  this  duty 
with  such  complete  success.  Lieutenant  Hodson's  tactics 
were  of  the  most  brilliant  description,  and  the  whole  force, 
having  been  once  more  reunited  in  the  plain,  marched 
out  of  the  valley  by  the  Torana  Pass,  which,  though 
farthest  from  the  British  camp,  was  the  shortest  to  the 
outer  plains." 2  Here  they  were  joined  by  the  Chief  Com- 
missioner, Sir  John  Lawrence,  who  had  watched  the  whole 
affair  from  a  neighbouring  height. 

He,  too,  had  nothing  but  praise  for  the  victors.  "  We 
had  a  splendid  little  force,"  he  writes  to  Lord  Dalhousie. 
"  The  Afridis  fought  desperately,  and  the  mode  in  which 
the  Guides  and  Gurkhas  crowned  the  heights  which  com- 
manded the  villages  was  the  admiration  of  every  officer 
present.  These  are,  indeed,  the  right  sort  of  fellows. 
Our  loss  is  eight  men  killed  and  twenty-four  wounded. 
The  men  got  no  water  and  suffered  a  good  deal.  I  think 
this  expedition  is  calculated  to  do  much  good.  The  Bori 

1  The  force  comprised  a  mountain  train,  400  of  her  Majesty's  22nd 
Foot,  200  of  the  aoth  Native  Infantry,  400  of  the  66th  Gurkha 
Regiment,  and  450  of  the  Guides. 

1  From  the  Lahore  Chronicle  for  December  3,  1853. 


Command  of  the  Guides         109 

valley  has  not  been  entered  by  an  enemy  for  many 
hundred  years,  I  believe,  and  the  prestige  which  will 
attend  the  affair  will  be  proportioned  to  the  success  of 
the  operation." * 

How  largely  this  success  was  owing  to  Hodson's  leader- 
ship may  be  seen  from  Colonel  Boileau's  official  despatch : 
"  To  the  admirable  conduct  of  Lieutenant  Hodson  in  re- 
connoitring, in  the  skilful  disposition  of  his  men,  and  the 
daring  gallantry  with  which  he  led  his  fine  corps  in  every 
advance,  most  of  our  success  is  due ;  for  the  safety  of  the 
whole  force  while  in  the  valley  of  the  Tillah  depended  on 
his  holding  his  position,  and  I  had  justly  every  confidence 
in  his  vigilance  and  valour." 

This  praise  was  duly  indorsed  by  Sir  William  Gomm, 
who  begged  the  brigadier  to  express  to  Lieutenant 
Hodson  "  my  particular  thanks  for  the  great  service  he 
rendered  the  force  under  your  command,  by  his  ever- 
gallant  conduct,  which  has  fully  sustained  the  reputa- 
tion he  has  so  justly  acquired  for  courage,  coolness,  and 
determination." 

Before  Christmas,  Hodson  and  his  wife  were  again 
together  in  camp  at  Mardan,  thirty-three  miles  north- 
east of  Peshawar,  where  Hodson  among  his  other  duties 
was  engaged  in  building  a  fortified  cantonment  for  the 
officers  and  men  of  the  Guide  Corps. 

"  I  wish  you  could  see  your  little  granddaughter,"  he 
writes  to  his  father  on  January  2,  1854,  "  being  nursed 
by  a  rough-looking  Afghan  soldier  or  bearded  Sikh,  and 
beginning  life  so  early  as  a  dweller  in  tents.  She  was 
christened  by  Mr.  Clarke,  one  of  the  Church  missionaries 
who  happened  to  be  in  Peshawar.  .  .  .  My  second  in 
command,  Lieutenant  Godby,  was  stabbed  in  the  back 
by  a  fanatic  the  other  day  while  on  parade,  and  has  had 
a  wonderful  escape  for  his  life. 

"  You  would  so  delight  in  your  little  granddaughter. 
She  is  a  lovely  good  little  darling;  as  happy  as  possible, 
and  wonderfully  quick  and  intelligent  for  her  months. 
I  would  give  worlds  to  be  able  to  run  home  and  see  you, 
and  show  you  my  child;  but  I  fear  much  that,  unless  I 
find  a  '  nugget/  it  is  vain  to  hope  for  so  much  pleasure 
1  Bosworth  Smith's  Lift  of  Lord  Lawrence. 


1 10  Major  W.  Hodson 

just  now.  Meantime  I  have  every  blessing  a  man  can 
hope  for,  and  not  the  least  is  that  of  your  fond  and 
much-prized  affection." 

Writing  to  his  wife  a  few  days  afterwards,  he  reported 
Godby  as  out  of  danger,  and  himself  as  having  "  been  all 
day  busy  inquiring  into  the  perpetrators  and  abettors  of 
the  deed,  and  have  decided  on  seizing  one  of  the  principal 
chiefs  of  Yuzafzai  and  sending  him  into  Peshawar.  The 
murderer  was  a  servant  of  this  Khader  Khan,  and 
certainly  did  not  come  of  his  own  idea.  I  shall  have 
plenty  of  circumstantial  evidence  at  least  against  him." 

On  May  i,  he  tells  his  father  that  little  Olivia  had  just 
recovered  from  a  severe  attack  of  fever.  "  You  would 
so  delight  in  her  little  baby  tricks  and  ways.  .  .  .  We 
look  forward  with  intense  interest  to  her  beginning  to 
talk  and  crawl  about.  Both  she  and  her  dear  mother 
will  have  to  leave  for  the  hills  very  soon,  I  am  sorry  to 
say.  We  try  to  put  off  the  evil  day,  but  I  dare  not 
expose  either  of  my  treasures  to  the  heat  of  Yuzafzai  or 
Peshawar  for  the  next  three  months.  .  .  .  The  young 
lady  already  begins  to  show  a  singularity  of  taste — 
refusing  to  go  to  the  arms  of  any  native  woman,  and 
decidedly  preferring  the  male  population,  some  of  whom 
are  distinguished  by  her  special  favour.  Her  own  orderly 
— save  the  mark ! — never  tires  of  looking  at  her  '  beautiful 
white  fingers,'  nor  she  of  twisting  them  into  his  black 
beard — an  insult  to  an  Oriental,  which  he  bears  with  an 
equanimity  equal  to  his  fondness  for  her.  The  cunning 
fellows  have  begun  to  make  use  of  her  too,  and  when 
they  want  anything,  ask  the  favour  in  the  name  of  Lilli 
Baba  (they  cannot  manage  '  Olivia  '  at  all).  They  know 
the  spell  is  potent." 

After  a  five-o'clock  cup  of  tea,  Hodson  and  his  wife 
were  wont  to  go  out  riding  together  for  a  couple  of  hours. 

"  You  can  understand,"  Mrs.  Hodson  writes  on  April 
15,  "  something  of  the  delight  of  galloping  over  the  almost 
boundless  plain  in  the  cool  fresh  air  (for  the  mornings 
and  evenings  are  still  lovely),  with  the  ground  now 
enamelled  with  sweet-scented  flowers,  and  the  magnifi- 
cent mountains  nearest  us  assuming  every  possible  hue 
which  light  and  shadow  can  bestow.  On  our  return  to 


Command  of  the  Guides          1 1  i 

camp,  W.  hears  more  reports  till  dinner,  which  is  some- 
times shared  by  the  other  officers  or  chance  guests.  When 
we  are  alone,  as  soon  as  dinner  is  over,  the  letters  which 
have  arrived  in  the  evening  are  examined,  classified,  and 
descanted  on,  sometimes  answered;  and  I  receive  my 
instructions  for  next  day's  work  in  copying  papers, 
answering  letters,  etc." 

After  a  lively  description  of  her  husband's  labours  as- 
a  hard-worked  overseer  in  the  building  of  his  fort,  Mrs. 
Hodson  goes  on  to  say: — 

"  By  way  of  variety  we  have  native  sports  on  great 
holidays — such  as  throwing  the  spear  at  a  mark,  or 
nazabaze,  which  is,  fixing  a  stake  of  twelve  or  eighteen 
inches  into  the  ground,  which  must  be  taken  up  on  the 
spear's  point  while  passing  it  at  full  gallop,  or  putting 
an  orange  on  the  top  of  a  bamboo  a  yard  high,  and  cutting 
it  through  with  a  sword  at  full  speed.  W.  is  very  clever 
at  this,  rarely  failing,  but  the  spears  are  too  long  for  any 
but  a  lithe  native  to  wield  without  risking  a  broken  arm.. 
The  scene  is  most  picturesque:  the  flying  horsemen  ia 
their  flowing  many-coloured  garments,  and  the  grouping 
of  the  lookers-on,  make  me  more  than  ever  regret  not 
having  ready  pencil-power  to  put  them  on  paper. 

"  The  weather  has  been  particularly  unfavourable 
to  the  progress  of  the  fort,  so  that  we  are  still  in  our 
temporary  hut  and  tents.  Of  course  we  feel  the  heat 
much  more  so  domiciled.  W.  is  grievously  overworked;, 
still  his  health  is  wonderfully  good,  and  his  spirits  as  wild 
as  if  he  were  a  boy  again.  He  is  never  so  well  pleased 
as  when  he  has  the  baby  in  his  arms." 

This  sweet  companionship  lasted  on  till  the  first  days 
of  June,  when  mother  and  child  were  packed  off  on  the 
inevitable  summer  visit  to  the  Marri  Hills.  "It  is  a  sad 
necessity,"  writes  the  husband,  "  and  the  curse  of  Indian 
life,  this  repeatedly  recurring  separation;  but  anything 
is  better  than  to  see  the  dear  ones  suffer.  I  am  fortun- 
ately very  well,  and  as  yet  untouched  by  the  unusual 
virulence  with  which  the  hot  weather  has  commenced 
this  year." 

He  hoped  to  rejoin  his  wife  and  child  in  September^ 
and  accompany  them  back  to  their  new  home — "  for  by 


1 1 2  Major  W.  Hodson 

that  time  I  trust  that  my  fortified  cantonment  will  be 
ready,  and  our  house  too." 

But  the  happy  prospect  was  soon  to  be  fatally  over- 
cast.  On  June  26,  Hodson  was  summoned  from  Mardan 
by  tidings  of  the  dangerous  illness  of  his  little  daughter. 
He  found  her  in  a  sinking  state,  but  the  little  flame  of  her 
life  still  flickered  on  for  a  fortnight  longer.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  July  10,  "  she  breathed  her  soul  away,  so  gently 
that  those  watching  her  intently  were  conscious  of  no 
change.  The  deep  agony  of  this  bereavement  I  have  no 
words  to  describe.  We  had  watched  her  growth,  and 
prided  ourselves  on  her  development  with  such  absorb- 
ing interest  and  joy;  and  she  had  so  won  our  hearts  by 
her  extreme  sweetness  and  most  unusual  intelligence,  that 
she  had  become  the  very  centre  and  light  of  our  home 
life,  and  in  losing  her  we  seem  to  have  lost  everything." 

About  ten  days  later  Hodson  was  hurrying  back  alone 
to  Mardan,  while  his  wife  remained  at  Marri  until  October; 
for  he  dared  not  take  her  back  with  him  at  such  a  season, 
in  her  then  state  of  health.  "It  is  very  sad  work  to 
part  again  under  these  circumstances,  but  in  this  wretched 
country  there  is  no  help  for  us." 

"  I  am  alone  now,"  he  writes  on  September  17,  "  having 
none  of  my  officers  here  save  the  doctor.  But  the  border 
is  quiet,  and  except  a  great  deal  of  crime  and  villainy, 
I  have  not  any  great  difficulties  to  contend  with.  My 
new  fort  to  hold  the  regiment  and  protect  the  frontier 
is  nearly  finished,  and  my  new  house  therein  will  be  habit- 
able before  my  wife  comes  down  from  Marri.  So  after  two 
years  and  a  quarter  of  camp  and  hutting,  I  shall  enjoy 
the  luxury  of  a  room  and  the  dignity  of  a  house." 

Before  the  end  of  October,  Hodson  and  his  wife  had 
entered  into  possession  of  their  new  home  within  the 
fort  which  Hodson  had  worked  so  hard  to  get  completed. 
"  We  have,  for  India,"  he  writes  on  October  31,  "  a  very 
pretty  view  of  the  hills  and  plains  around  us.  Above  all, 
the  place  seems  a  very  healthy  one.  To  your  eye,  fresh 
from  England,  it  would  appear  desolate  from  its  solitude, 
and  oppressive  from  the  vastness  of  the  scale  of  scene. 
A  wide  plain,  without  a  break  or  a  tree,  thirty  miles 
long  by  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  wide,  forms  our  immediate 


Command  of  the  Guides         1 1 3 

foreground  on  one  side,  and  an  endless  mass  of  mountains 
on  the  other." 

They  had  just  heard  by  telegraph  of  Lord  Raglan's 
victory  over  the  Russians  at  the  Alma.  "  We  are  in  an 
age  of  wonders.  Ten  months  ago  there  was  not  a  tele- 
graph in  Hindustan,  yet  the  news  which  reached  Bombay 
on  the  zyth  of  this  month  was  printed  at  Lahore,  1200 
miles  from  the  coast,  that  same  afternoon." 

Two  of  Lord  Dalhousie's  greatest  services  to  India 
were  a  cheap  uniform  postage  and  an  efficient  telegraph 
system.  The  latter,  in  his  own  words,  "  may  challenge 
comparison  with  any  public  enterprise  which  has  been 
carried  into  execution  in  recent  times  among  the  nations 
of  Europe,  or  in  America  itself." 

On  November  16,  Hodson  reports  the  commencement 
of  negotiations  between  the  Indian  Government  and  the 
Amir  of  Kabul,  whom  we  had  let  severely  alone  ever 
since  the  failure  of  his  last  attempt  to  regain  possession 
of  Peshawar.  Hodson  looked  askance  at  the  new  policy 
which  Colonel  Herbert  Edwardes  had  been  among  the 
first  to  promote.  "  One  thing,"  he  writes,  "  is  certain, 
that  the  commencement  of  negotiations  with  us  is  the 
beginning  of  evil  days  for  Afghanistan.  In  India  we 
must  either  keep  altogether  aloof  or  absorb.  All  our 
history  shows  that  sooner  or  later  connection  with  us 
is  political  death.  The  sunshine  is  not  more  fatal  to  a 
dew-drop  than  our  friendship  or  alliance  to  an  Asiatic 
kingdom." 

Hodson's  views  on  this  matter  were  shared  by  such 
men  as  John  Lawrence,  Abbott,  Nicholson,  and  Outram. 
In  spite,  however,  of  many  grave  objections  to  any 
alliance  with  a  native  Power,  it  was  fortunate  for  India 
that  the  policy  proposed  by  Edwardes  received  the 
sanction  of  the  Governor-General.  On  March  20,  1855, 
was  signed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Khaiber  Pass,  by  John 
Lawrence  and  a  son  of  Dost  Muhammad  Khan,  the 
treaty  by  which  the  Amir  of  Kabul  agreed  to  become 
*'  the  friend  of  our  friends  and  the  enemy  of  our 
enemies/' — the  treaty  which  left  the  door  open  for  a 
closer  alliance  whenever  circumstances  might  seem  to 
call  for  it. 

H 


CHAPTER  XI 

UNDER   A   CLOUD.      1854-1856 

As  early  as  March,  1853,  John  Lawrence,  the  new  Chief 
Commissioner  for  the  Punjab,  had  written  to  Mr.  Cour- 
tenay,  Lord  Dalhousie's  private  secretary:  "  Hodson  is,  I 
believe,  very  unpopular,  both  in  the  Guides  and  with 
military  men  generally.  I  don't  know  exactly  why  this 
is.  It  cannot  be  that  he  has  got  promotion  too  early, 
for,  though  a  young  soldier,  he  is  almost  a  middle-aged 
man.  He  is  an  officer  of  first-rate  ability,  and  has 
received  an  excellent  education.  He  is  gallant,  zealous, 
and  intelligent,  and  yet  few  men  like  him.  It  is  the 
case  of  the  famous  Dr.  Fell,  whom  the  young  lady  did 
not  like,  but  could  not  tell  why  she  did  not  do  so." 

The  process  of  giving  a  dog  a  bad  name  seems  in 
Hodson's  case  to  have  begun  within  a  very  few  months 
after  his  appointment  to  the  command  of  the  Guides. 
It  is  easy  enough  to  call  a  man  unpopular,  but  the  ques- 
tion remains,  how  and  whence  the  unpopularity  may 
have  arisen.  A  just  judge,  an  able  magistrate,  or  an 
active  police  officer  is  not  likely  to  be  much  of  a  favourite 
with  the  criminal  classes;  nor  will  he  always  endear 
himself  greatly  even  with  people  of  his  own  class  and 
calling.  Hitherto,  at  any  rate,  Hodson  appears  to  have 
been  far  from  unpopular  with  those  who  knew  him, 
whether  personally  or  by  common  repute.  In  the 
Calcutta  Review  for  October,  1852,  Mr.  W.  S.  Seton-Karr 
had  said  that  "  Lieutenant  Hodson,  marvellously  attach- 
ing the  Guides  to  himself  by  the  ties  of  mutual  honour, 
mutual  daring,  and  mutual  devotion,  has  on  every  oppor- 
tunity proved  that  the  discipline  of  a  public  school  and 
subsequent  university  training  are  no  disqualification  for 
hazardous  warfare,  or  for  the  difficult  task  of  keeping 
wild  tribes  in  check."  The  enthusiastic  greeting  which 
Hodson  was  afterwards  to  receive  at  Delhi  from  the  men 
114 


Under  a  Cloud  1 1 5 

he  had  once  commanded  bore  ample  witness  to  the 
warmth  of  their  affection  for  their  former  leader. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  his  promotion  to  a  com- 
mand, so  widely  coveted  by  men  of  higher  standing,  gave 
sore  offence  not  only  to  one  or  two  officers  in  the  Guides, 
but  to  several  others  who  deemed  their  own  claims 
stronger  than  his.  So  bitter  was  the  enmity  displayed 
towards  him  by  his  adjutant,  Lieutenant  Turner,  that  in 
April,  1854,  that  officer,  greatly  to  Hodson's  relief,  was 
transferred  to  a  regiment  of  Punjab  cavalry.  But  the 
stories  he  had  meanwhile  set  on  foot  to  Hodson's  prejudice 
must  have  found  their  way  to  the  Chief  Commissioner 
many  months  before.  In  August,  1853,  John  Lawrence 
writes  to  Hodson  with  regard  to  the  general  feeling  of 
the  Guides:  "  You  must  not  be  hurt  at  what  I  say,  for 
I  do  it  simply  and  solely  for  your  own  good.  You  may 
depend  on  it  that  neither  the  European  nor  the  native 
officers  are  as  razi  (contented)  as  they  might  be.  I  have 
heard  it  from  half-a-dozen  different  quarters.  At  Lahore 
I  have  heard  it  talked  of  by  several  parties.  I  have  heard 
it  direct  from  Peshawar,  and  direct  from  Calcutta.  There 
may  have  been  faults  on  their  part,  and  the  discipline 
may  not  have  been  altogether  what  it  ought  to  have 
been.  But  sudden  changes  are  best  avoided.  ...  If 
right  men  go  wrong,  people  will  blame  you.  I  don't 
think  that  Pathans  can  bear  a  very  strict  system  of  drill 
and  setting  up  at  any  time.  For  all  these  reasons,  there- 
fore, I  would  introduce  my  reforms  very  slowly  and 
carefully,  carrying  them  out  in  a  way  as  little  vexatious 
as  possible."  x 

In  seeking  to  enforce  his  own  views  of  military  dis- 
cipline, and  to  make  his  regiment  as  fit  as  possible 
for  the  work  required  of  it,  Hodson  may  have  moved 
too  fast  in  a  manner  too  ruthless  to  please  some  of  his 
official  superiors.  In  the  letter  from  which  I  have  just 
quoted,  John  Lawrence  takes  him  to  task  for  his  rough 
treatment  of  one  of  his  native  officers:  "  I  heard  that 
you  addressed  Fathi  Khan  as  Fathi  Khan  Mazul  (turned 
out);  this  was  sufficient  to  set  such  a  chap  all  of  a 
blaze."  This  Fathi  Khan  may  have  been  a  daring 
1  Quoted  by  Bos  worth  Smith. 


n6  Major  W.  Hodson 

soldier;  Hodson  looked  upon  him  as  one  of  those  black 
sheep  with  whose  services  he  would  do  well  to  dispense. 
Lawrence  himself  had  described  him  to  Lord  Dalhousie 
as  "  a  perfect  devil  when  his  blood  is  up,  and  this  is 
very  often.  At  such  a  moment  he  would  murder  his 
nearest  and  dearest  relative  or  friend."  Even  Lumsden, 
for  all  his  kindly  tact  and  easy-going  ways,  had  some- 
times found  that  retired  freebooter  very  hard  to  manage. 
Under  Hodson's  more  masterful  rule  it  was  not  long  before 
Fathi  Khan  and  several  other  of  the  native  officers  were 
weeded  out  of  the  Guides  in  order  that  their  places  might 
be  filled  by  trustier  men. 

He  appears  also  to  have  annoyed  his  English  sub- 
alterns in  various  ways,  especially  by  getting  rid  of 
many  Pathans  and  Afridis  on  whose  merits  they  had 
pinned  their  faith.  Stories  to  his  discredit  found  their 
way  to  the  Chief  Commissioner,  who  had  never  looked 
with  favour  on  his  appointment  to  the  Guides.  In  May, 
1854,  he  writes  to  his  brother,  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  "  I 
am  in  great  tribulation  about  Hodson  of  the  Guides.  I 
don't  know  what  to  make  of  him.  His  courage  and 
ability  are  unquestioned.  I  could  excuse  his  not  getting 
on  with  his  subalterns,  for  a  man  like  Lumsden  would 
spoil  most  men  under  him,  at  least  for  any  other  com- 
mander. Lumsden  also  seems  to  have  left  the  accounts 
in  great  disorder,  and  Hodson  has  not  gone  about  getting 
them  right.  .  .  .  Now  I  hear  that  all  the  European  people 
dislike  him,  and  that  mischief  may  get  up  there.  .  .  . 
To  me,  personally,  he  has  always  been  amiable  and  most 
courteous,  but  I  would  give  a  good  deal  to  see  him  else- 
where, for  I  fear  a  row."  l 

It  is  clear  from  this  letter  that  John  Lawrence  had 
been  judging  from  hearsay  rather  than  actual  evidence 
on  some  of  the  points  to  which  he  refers.  As  far  back 
as  December,  1852,  Hodson  had  written  to  his  wife,  "  I 
am  very  busy  here  unravelling  the  confusion  left  by 
Lumsden."  And  we  have  seen  how  in  a  previous  letter 
he  had  spoken  of  his  arduous  efforts  to  organise  and 
arrange  in  concert  with  his  adjutant  the  economical 
details  of  the  regiment.2 

1  Bosworth  Smith's  Life  of  Lord  Lawrence.  2  See  chap.  x. 


Under  a  Cloud  1 17 

Among  Hodson's  enemies  at  this  period  none  of  his 
own  household  was  to  be  numbered.  In  the  words  of 
his  stepson,  Major-General  Mitford,  he  was  "  most  kind 
to  his  servants,  etc.  His  bearer,  Khuda  Baksh,  was  with 
me  for  a  short  time,  and  was  then  with  my  mother  till 
she  left  India  in  March  1859.  He  was  then  made  an 
inspector  of  the  new  Oudh  Police,  and  frequently  came 
to  make  his  salaam  and  talk  of  his  old  master,  which 
he  did  with  the  unusual  mixture  of  admiration  and 
affection  displayed  by  all  the  good  natives  who  ever 
came  under  him.  His  personal  orderly,  Nihal  Singh,  is 
another  instance  of  the  loving  devotion  he  inspired.  .  .  . 
While  I  was  in  Hodson's  Horse  I  frequently  profited  by 
this.  The  men  never  called  me  anything  but  Chota 
Sahib,  and  it  was  by  that  title  that  they  seated  me  on 
the  Gadi  at  Amritsar  when  I  was  leaving  India.  It  was 
done  in  memory  of  their  old  leader."  l 

The  illness  and  death  of  his  little  girl  marked  the 
beginning  of  very  troublous  times  for  Hodson  himself. 
In  his  twofold  capacity  of  soldier  and  civilian  he  had 
done  things  which  brought  him  into  collision  with  his 
official  chiefs.  His  zeal  for  justice  upon  those  who  had 
plotted  the  death  of  Mackeson,  and  the  murderous  attack 
on  Lieutenant  Godby,  had  led  him  to  seize  and  im- 
prison a  border  chief  named  Khadar  Khan,  one  of  whose 
servants  had  dealt  the  blow  which  cut  short  Mackeson's 
career. 

By  Hodson's  orders,  Khadar  Khan's  property  was 
formally  attached,  and  the  chief  himself  held  for  several 
months  in  close  arrest,  pending  his  trial  in  the  Com- 
missioner's Court.  In  spite  of  the  evidence  which 
Hodson  brought  against  him,  the  prisoner  was  acquitted. 
Nevertheless,  Hodson's  belief  in  Khadar  Khan's  guilt,  a 
belief  in  which  he  did  not  stand  alone,  remained  un- 
shaken. "  Since  Khadar  Khan  has  been  out  of  jail," 
he  writes,  "  there  has  been  a  renewal  of  the  former  state 
of  uneasiness  and  excitement,  and  his  people  and  emis- 
saries are  most  active  in  intrigue.  Tell  Godby  to  look 
out  for  his  friend,  if  he  is  really  at  Marri,  and  to  remember 
that  whatever  Major  Edwardes  or  any  one  else  may  say 
1  Letter  from  Major-General  Mitford. 


1 1 8  Major  W.  Hodson 

to  the  contrary,  Khadar  Khan,  and  no  one  else,  was  the 
author  of  the  attack  on  him  last  December." 

Major  Edwardes  reported  the  case  to  Lord  Dalhousie 
as  one  of  wrongful  imprisonment,  for  which  he  could  see 
no  fair  excuse.  Acting  upon  Edwardes's  version  of  the 
affair,  the  Governor-General  in  the  course  of  1855  directed 
that  Lieutenant  Hodson  should  not  again  have  any  civil 
command  in  Yuzafzai.  In  reporting  the  matter  to  the 
Court  of  Directors,  Lord  Dalhousie  said:  "Lieutenant 
Hodson's  case  has  been  lately  before  me.  It  is  as  bad 
as  possible,  and  I  have  been  compelled  to  remand  him 
to  his  regiment  with  much  regret,  for  he  is  a  gallant 
soldier  and  an  able  man."  In  their  letter  approving 
the  Governor-General's  decision,  the  Court  of  Directors 
decreed  that  Hodson  should  never  again  be  employed  in 
any  civil  capacity  whatever. 

As  early  as  March  3,  1855,  Hodson  had  been  made 
aware  of  the  fate  in  store  for  him  by  a  private  letter 
from  the  Chief  Commissioner  himself: — 

"  MY  DEAR  HODSON, — Since  I  last  wrote  to  you  I  have 
received  a  letter  from  Government  saying  that  you  are 
not  to  resume  command  of  the  Guides,  nor  to  have  charge 
of  Yuzafzai,  and  that  your  future  employment  will  depend 
on  the  result  of  the  court  of  inquiry.  However  dis- 
agreeable these  tidings  might  be  to  you,  I  think  you 
would  prefer  knowing  them  than  waiting  in  suspense. — 
Yours  truly,  JOHN  LAWRENCE."1 

The  court  of  inquiry  to  which  John  Lawrence  here 
refers  had  meanwhile  been  dealing  with  matters  of  far 
graver  purport  to  Hodson's  character  than  the  wrongful 
imprisonment  of  a  Pathan  chief. 

On  September  8,  1854,  Hodson  had  just  heard  from 
Major  Macpherson,  then  military  secretary  to  John 
Lawrence,  that  "  there  is  to  be  a  court  of  inquiry  on 
the  Turner  affair  or  on  me — I  hardly  know  which.  I  am 
sorry  for  it  in  one  sense,  for  these  courts  are  vexatious 
and  troublesome  things,  and  it  will  give  me  much  trouble ; 
but  as  all  is  as  clear  as  possible,  I  do  not  fear  the  result 
1  Papers  supplied  by  Miss  Hodson. 


Under  a  Cloud  119 

in  the  least — in  fact,  I  would  court  inquiry  rather  than 
avoid  it."1  It  appears  that  Turner,  in  spite  of  Hodson's 
peremptory  orders,  had  refused  to  sign  some  regimental 
rolls  on  the  ground  of  his  disagreement  with  the  remarks 
appended  by  his  commanding  officer.  The  letter  in 
which  Turner  complained  of  Hodson's  high-handed 
conduct  was  pronounced  by  Major  Macpherson  to  be  so 
"  disgraceful  to  the  writer  that  he  dared  not  characterise 
it."  This,  however,  was  but  one  of  many  charges  which 
Turner  persisted  in  laying  before  the  Chief  Commissioner. 

Hodson,  for  his  part,  was  ready  and  eager  to  confront 
his  accusers.  "  Pray  impress,"  he  wrote,  "  upon  John 
Lawrence's  mind  that  I  am  not  in  the  smallest  degree 
disposed  to  shrink  from  the  strictest  inquiry  into  any  act 
of  mine  in  the  command  of  the  Guides.  I  am  much  to 
blame  for  letting  things  go  the  length  they  did  without 

bringing  up ,  but  that  was  good-natured  folly,  and 

neither  dishonest  nor  unsoldier-like.  It  is  true  that  I 
am  annoyed  at  the  trouble  and  bother  of  courts  of 
inquiry,  but  nothing  more;  and  if  John  Lawrence  would 
come  to  overhaul  everything  connected  with  my  com- 
mand, I  should  be  infinitely  satisfied,  and  you  may  tell 
him  so." 

After  a  delay  of  several  months,  the  court  of  inquiry 
sat  for  the  first  time  at  Peshawar  in  December  1854. 
Hodson  had  been  ordered  to  make  over  the  command  of 
the  Guides  to  Lieutenant  Godby,  and  to  remain  at 
Peshawar  during  the  sitting  of  the  court.  Among  the 
charges  which  the  court  had  to  deal  with  were  gross 
negligence  and  persistent  falsification  of  accounts  in 
matters  specially  concerning  the  command  of  the  Guides. 

The  delay  in  assembling  the  court  of  inquiry  had  given 
time  for  the  growth  of  many  stories  more  or  less  untrue, 
but  all  alike  hurtful  to  Hodson's  good  name.  In  the 
words  of  the  Rev.  C.  Sloggett,  afterwards  chaplain  of 
Dagshia,  "  There  is  no  doubt  that  young  Turner  talked 
about  all  these  things  [his  charges  against  Hodson]  very 
freely  in  the  Peshawar  society,  and  that  the  stories  to 
Hodson's  prejudice  were  eagerly  caught  up  and  circulated 
because  of  his  general  unpopularity."  Of  the  causes 
1  Letter  to  Mrs.  Hodson. 


120  Major  W.  Hodson 

which  Mr.  Sloggett  points  out  in  detail  mention  has  been 
made  already ;  but  one  of  them  may  here  be  emphasised 
in  Mr.  Sloggett's  own  words:  "  He  was  a  man  of  con- 
siderable attainments;  a  fair  scholar;  possessed  of  in- 
formation above  the  average;  and  he  was  older  than 
almost  any  one  of  his  standing  in  the  army.  He  was 
in  this  way  superior  to  most  of  his  fellows,  and  being 
at  the  same  time  naturally  sarcastic  and  fearless,  he 
would  say  and  do  things  which  galled  men  to  the  quick 
and  made  them  hate  him.  Add  to  this  the  envy  caused 
by  his  rapid  rise,  owing  to  Sir  Henry  Lawrence's  notice 
of  him,  and  his  unpopularity  is  accounted  for.  When, 
then,  the  committee  of  inquiry  was  ordered,  and  the 
members  of  it  were  at  last  all  collected  at  Peshawar, — 
some  of  whom  arrived  days  or  weeks  before  the  whole 
could  assemble  in  those  days  of  slow  and  tedious  travel, 
— these  became  infected  with  the  prevailing  prejudice  to 
such  a  degree  that  they  believed  him  guilty  before  the 
court  assembled  at  all,  and  actually  took  possession  of  his 
regimental  papers  and  accounts.  Moreover,  the  native 
munshi  and  accountant,  true  to  his  national  character, 
joined  in  and  inflamed  the  stories  against  the  fallen 
man."  1 

The  spirit  in  which  some  of  Hodson's  accusers  conducted 
their  case  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  a  regimental 
order  published  to  the  corps  of  Guides  called  upon  all 
who  had  claims  or  complaints  against  their  commandant 
to  bring  them  forward  without  delay.  This  fact  alone 
would  account  for  the  great  number  of  witnesses,  all 
native,  who  appeared  before  the  court.  "It  is  difficult 
to  imagine,"  says  a  well-informed  writer  in  Blackwood, 
"  a  course  of  procedure  more  grossly  unfair  or  irregular, 
especially  in  India.  ...  A  similar  order  issued  to  a 
British  regiment  would  probably  have  no  effect  except 
to  arouse  indignation  at  such  means  being  resorted  to  in 
order  to  obtain  evidence  against  a  man  already  under  a 
cloud.  But  with  Orientals,  or  at  least  with  the  inferior 
classes  of  Orientals,  the  case  is  different.  They  have  no 
compunctions  whatever  about  hitting  a  man  who  is 
down;  on  the  contrary,  the  knowledge  that  an  officer 

1  Quoted  from  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Hodson. 


Under  a  Cloud  121 

had  incurred  the  displeasure  of  his  superiors,  and  had 
been  suspended  in  consequence  from  his  official  position, 
would  be  the  signal  for  every  snivelling  wretch  who  had 
a  grudge  against  him  to  strive  for  a  foremost  place  in 
throwing  mud  at  him.  .  .  .  Under  such  circumstances 
would  Herbert  Edwardes,  would  John  Nicholson,  have 
escaped  scatheless?  " l 

In  this  connection  one  cannot  help  recalling  the 
language  in  which  Macaulay  characterised  a  similar 
process  employed  by  Philip  Francis  against  his  great 
opponent  Warren  Hastings.  "  An  Indian  Government/' 
says  that  brilliant  essayist,  "  has  only  to  let  it  be  under- 
stood that  it  wishes  a  particular  man  to  be  ruined,  and 
in  twenty-four  hours  it  will  be  furnished  with  grave 
charges,  supported  by  depositions  so  full  and  circum- 
stantial that  any  person  unaccustomed  to  Asiatic  men- 
dacity would  regard  them  as  decisive.  It  is  well  if  the 
signature  of  the  destined  victim  is  not  counterfeited  at 
the  foot  of  some  illegal  compact." 

"  It  must  be  remembered,"  says  Major  Reynell  Taylor, 
in  his  careful  and  exhaustive  report  of  February  13,  1856, 
"  that  Lieutenant  Godby,  who  had,  I  believe,  been  called 
upon  to  ascertain  all  claims  that  existed  against  Lieu- 
tenant Hodson  with  the  regiment,  gave  public  notice 
that  all  who  had  them  to  make  must  speak  then  or  be 
silent  afterwards.  It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  every 
one  who  thought  he  had  a  chance  of  gaining  by  coming 
forward  did  so;  and  it  is  a  very  important  point  in  the 
case  that  it  should  be  seen  that  there  were  no  real  com- 
plaints to  be  made  on  the  score  of  pay." 

The  court,  of  which  Colonel  Halkett  Craigie,  C.B.,  was 
president,  sat  all  through  December,  1854,  and  into  the 
middle  of  the  following  January,  hearing  and  recording 
a  mass  of  evidence  which,  as  events  showed,  was  either 
wholly  false  or  essentially  worthless  in  its  bearing  on  the 
character  of  the  man  accused.  While  the  court  was 
taking  time  to  consider  its  verdict,  a  cheering  letter 
reached  Hodson  from  Dr.  Lyell  at  Ghazipur.  "  When 
we  parted,"  writes  the  good  doctor,  "  I  little  thought 
that,  notwithstanding  all  the  quarrelling,  any  one  would 
1  Blackwood's  Magazine  for  March  1899. 


122  Major  W.  Hodson 

have  had  the  audacity  to  bring  such  charges  as  you  are 
now  accused  of  against  you.  We  all  have  our  faults, 
and  you,  no  doubt,  have  yours,  but  nothing  shall  ever 
persuade  me  that  a  man  of  your  stamp  has  been  guilty 
of  what  is  alleged  against  you.  I  am  sure  any  one  who 
knows  you  would  much  sooner  believe  them  to  be  a 
tissue  of  lies  contrived  by  those  rascally  niggers  to  ruin 
you;  so  cheer  up,  old  fellow,  and  for  any  sake  do  not 
abandon  yourself  to  melancholy.  ...  I  have  no  doubt 
that  though  the  odds  seem  against  you,  the  malice  of 
your  enemies  will  be  defeated,  and  that  you  will  emerge 
from  the  cloud  they  have  raised  around  you  with  un- 
tarnished reputation." 

In  this  connection  I  may  insert  part  of  a  letter  which 
Lord  Napier  wrote  in  1884  to  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Hodson: — 

"  In  March,  1855,  on  visiting  Peshawar,  I  found  the 
case  of  your  brother  under  discussion  at  Sir  J.  Lawrence's 
headquarters.  Feelings  were  very  strong  against  him, 
and  the  loss  of  his  appointment  considered  so  certain, 
that  I  feared  the  decision  had  been  already  made.  I 
immediately  sought  your  brother,  and  found  him  quite 
unconscious  of  his  danger,  and  confident  of  clearing  him- 
self of  the  accusations  brought  against  him. 

"  On  his  showing  me  his  accounts,  I  saw  they  were  all 
in  Persian,  liable  to  any  misconstruction  which  an  ill- 
disposed  interpreter  might  place  on  them,  and  I  urged 
him  to  translate  them  into  English. 

"  He  said  it  would  take  a  fortnight,  and  I  therefore 
rode  back  to  Sir  J.  Lawrence's  camp  and  asked  him  to 
allow  that  time  for  translating  the  accounts.  To  this 
he  gave  consent,  which  I  carried  at  once  to  Hodson. 

"  By  working  day  and  night  he  accomplished  the 
translation  in  the  time. 

"  When  it  is  remembered  that,  on  his  being  suspended, 
notice  was  given  to  every  complainant  to  come  forward 
against  him,  any  one  who  knows  the  material  contained 
in  the  Guides  knows  that  there  were  men  who  might 
have  had  enmity  to  gratify,  or  hope  of  positive  advantage 
in  bringing  accusations  before  the  court  of  inquiry." 

The  proceedings  of  the  court  of  inquiry  had  been 
conducted  in  so  rambling  and  loose  a  manner  as  to  elicit 


Under  a  Cloud  123 

a  very  sharp  rebuke  from  the  Judge  Advocate-General, 
who  returned  the  papers  to  Colonel  Craigie  with  a  request 
for  some  definite  opinion  upon  the  matters  which  his 
court  had  been  directed  to  consider.  The  court  of  inquiry 
thereupon  reassembled  in  July,  and  after  hearing  Godby's 
evidence,  proceeded  in  Hodson's  absence  to  record  their 
opinion  that  the  accounts  of  the  Guides  as  laid  before  it 
by  Lieutenant  Hodson  were  most  unsatisfactory. 

On  this  occasion  the  accused  officer  had  not  been  heard 
in  his  own  defence.  Being  unable  to  prepare  a  full 
written  statement  within  the  time  allowed  him,  he  had 
asked  leave  to  attend  the  court  in  person  and  submit 
his  accounts  for  their  inspection.  To  this  request  no 
answer  was  given,  and  the  result,  as  Hodson  himself 
declared,  was  that  he  had  been  "  the  subject  of  an  inquiry 
at  which  I  was  not  present,  and  of  proceedings  of  the 
nature  of  which  I  am  ignorant  save  by  report."  x 

Meanwhile  Hodson  had  pleaded  again  and  again  for  a 
more  searching  inquiry  into  the  accounts  of  the  Guides 
than  that  which  the  court  had  been  misconducting.  In 
the  summer  of  1855  he  sent  to  the  Chief  Commissioner 
his  demand  for  a  court-martial.  On  learning  from  John 
Lawrence  that  his  letter  had  been  mislaid,  he  repeated  his 
demand. 

"  MY  DEAR  LAWRENCE,"  he  writes  in  October, — "  I 
send  herewith  the  copy  of  my  letter  asking  for  a  court- 
martial  which  you  desired.  Since  I  wrote  it,  Turner  has 
started  for  Bombay.  I  trust  this  will  not  prevent  my 
wish  for  a  fair  trial  being  granted.  My  accusers  were 
not  called  on  to  substantiate  their  assertions. 

"  The  burden  of  disproof,  proverbially  an  arduous  task, 
was  thrown  upon  me.  At  the  same  time  the  court,  by 
rejecting  my  accounts,  absolutely  deprived  me  of  the 
means  of  replying  satisfactorily  to  the  false  accusations 
brought  against  me.  This  could  not  again  occur.  Taylor's 
examination,  backed  by  the  court  of  inquiry  suggested 
by  the  commander-in-chief,  will  remove  all  doubt  from 
the  accounts  and  afford  me  the  materials  for  clearing 
myself. 

1  Letter  to  Colonel  H.  Tucker,  C.B.,  Adjutant-General,  September 
14,  1855. 


124  Major  W.  Hodson 

"  I  have  been  cruelly  misrepresented  in  other  ways. 
Many  things  have  been  told  you  of  me,  and  have  doubt- 
less influenced  your  judgment  of  my  case,  which  would 
be  either  disproved  or  explained  by  inquiry. 

"All  I  ask  for  is  a  full  and  public  examination  of  the 
whole  case  or  allegations  against  me.  I  do  not  fear  the 
result.  I  trust  you  will  obtain  such  an  examination  or 
trial  for  me  from  Government."  x 

The  Taylor  to  whom  this  letter  refers  was  Major  Reynell 
Taylor, — "  the  Bayard  of  the  Punjab," — who  had  made 
his  mark  as  one  of  Henry  Lawrence's  men  in  the  second 
Sikh  war,  and  had  afterwards  done  good  work  as  Deputy 
Commissioner  of  Bannu.  He  had  lately  returned  from 
furlough  in  time  to  take  over,  at  Dalhousie's  bidding,  the 
temporary  command  of  the  Guides.  In  the  autumn  of 
1855,  John  Lawrence  instructed  him  to  examine  and  report 
upon  Hodson's  alleged  misdealings  with  the  regimental 
chest.  Reynell  Taylor  set  himself  manfully  to  carry 
through  a  task  which  at  the  outset  he  did  not  greatly 
relish.  Turner  had  gone  to  Bombay,  where  he  died  in 
the  following  January.  But  Godby  was  at  hand  to  help 
Taylor  in  overhauling  the  regimental  books,  and  to  point 
out  the  discrepancies,  blunders,  and  omissions  which 
seemed  to  tell  against  his  former  commandant. 

It  was  truly  a  tangled  skein  which  Reynell  Taylor 
essayed  to  unravel.  Day  after  day,  with  Hodson  at  one 
elbow  and  Godby  at  the  other,  he  toiled  through  the 
chaotic  mass  of  documents,  English  and  Persian,  which 
professed  to  show  forth  the  sums  received  and  disbursed 
by  Hodson  himself  from  month  to  month  for  nearly  two 
years  on  account  of  the  Guide  Corps.2  The  scrutiny 
which  thus  began  at  Mardan  in  August,  1855,  ended  only 
in  the  last  days  of  October. 

On  November  2,  Taylor  wrote  to  inform  the  military 
secretary  that  he  had  completed  the  examination  of  the 
accounts.  "  Lieutenant  Hodson  is  very  anxious,  as  his 

1  Letters  supplied  by  Miss  Hodson. 

*  It  was  not  till  March,  1853,  that  Hodson  took  over  the  sole 
management  of  the  accounts  from  his  adjutant,  Lieutenant  F.  M'C. 
Turner. 


Under  a  Cloud  125 

accounts  have  been  publicly  challenged,  that  they  should 
be  finally  examined  and  reported  on  by  an  officially 
appointed  court  of  inquiry,  Najaf  Ali  to  be  present." 
This  man  was  a  regimental  munshi  who  bore  Hodson  a 
special  grudge,  and  had  been  one  of  his  principal  accusers. 
"  As  some  of  Najaf  Ali's  assertions,"  continues  Taylor, 
"  are  capable  of  very  clear  disproof  from  the  retrench- 
ment papers  in  the  office,  I  do  not  think  it  likely  that  his 
attendance  will  be  procured  without  the  assistance  of  the 
civil  authorities.  ...  I  have,  in  company  with  Lieutenant 
Godby,  and  with  considerable  labour,  gone  through  the 
whole,  item  by  item,  and  am  quite  satisfied  that  all  is 
correct,  .  .  .  and  all  will  be  set  right  without  difficulty." 
In  the  course  of  November,  Taylor  sat  down  to  write 
a  full  and  detailed  report  on  the  case  which  he  had  so 
patiently  investigated.     This  careful  and  conscientious 
piece  of  work,  a  copy  of  which  will  be  found  in  the 
Appendix,1  was  completed  on  February  13,  1856,  and 
forwarded  at  once  to  the  Chief  Commissioner.     He  began 
by  declaring  that  the  result  of  his  examination  of  Lieu- 
tenant Hodson's  accounts  had  been  "  quite  satisfactory." 
After  detailing  through  many  pages  a  clear  and  impartial 
statement  of  the  facts  disclosed  by  his  researches — of 
the  manner  in  which  the  accounts  had  been  kept  before 
Hodson  assumed  command;    the  difficulties  with  which 
a  commandant  of  the  Guides  had  to  contend,  owing  to 
his  multifarious  duties  and  the  many  services  demanded 
of  his  troops, — he  pointed  out  the  further  complications 
arising  from  the  delays  and  irregularities  of  the  accounts 
department,  and  the  efforts  made  by  Hodson  to  deal 
with  all  these  complications  to  the  best  of  his  power. 

Speaking  of  the  accounts  when  Hodson  entered  on  his 
command,  Taylor  shows  that  "  everything  was  known  to 
be  in  the  main  correct,  but  the  whole  unbalanced  and 
undetailed,  and  it  must  be  recorded  that  he  did  not,  on 
first  obtaining  command  of  the  Guides,  formally  examine 
and  take  charge  of  the  accounts.  He  had  long  been  con- 
nected with  the  regiment,  and  knew  all  the  difficulty 
and  confusion  that  had  been  caused  in  its  payment  by 
a  long  period  of  ubiquitous  service,  during  which  its 
1  See  Appendix  A. 


I  26  Major  W.  Hodson 

numerous  detachments  had  been  paid  by  the  various 
officers  to  whom  they  had  been  temporarily  attached, 
causing  a  constant  and  most  troublesome  system  of 
adjustment  from  the  headquarters,  which  latter  were 
also  usually  on  the  move,  and  the  commanding  officer 
obliged  to  take  frequent  advances  from  political  or  civil 
treasuries." 

"  Such  is  the  account,"  wrote  Taylor  towards  the  close 
of  his  report.  "  I  may  briefly  sum  up  my  opinion  by 
saying  that  I  believe  it  to  be  an  honest  and  correct  record 
from  beginning  to  end.  It  has  been  irregularly  kept,  but 
every  transaction,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest,  has  been 
noted  in  it,  and  is  traceable  to  the  individuals  concerned ; 
for  it  must  be  remembered  that  while  we  have  been 
sitting  in  committee  on  the  accounts  at  Mardan,  nearly 
every  man  mentioned  in  the  transactions  of  the  chest 
has  been  present  with  the  regiment,  and  throughout  the 
inquiry  I  have  found  Lieutenant  Hodson's  statements 
borne  out  by  the  facts  of  the  case,  while  in  some  instances, 
where  doubts  had  been  engendered  by  a  want  of  know- 
ledge of  details,  they  were  removed  by  working  through 
the  minutiae  of  the  account." 

In  his  closing  paragraph,  Taylor  says  that  "  Lieu- 
tenant Godby,  who  assisted  me  throughout  the  laborious 
examination  of  the  accounts  with  a  wish  to  understand 
them  himself  and  do  Lieutenant  Hodson  every  justice, 
appends  a  certificate  to  this  statement,  to  the  effect  that 
he  is  perfectly  satisfied  with  regard  to  the  correctness  of 
the  whole  account." 

Over  the  result  of  Taylor's  report  no  one  rejoiced  more 
sincerely  than  Hodson's  old  friend  Colonel  (afterwards 
Lord)  Napier.  "  The  result,"  he  wrote,  "  of  Major 
Taylor's  laborious  and  patient  investigation  has  fully 
justified,  but  has  not  at  all  added  to,  the  confidence  that 
I  have  throughout  maintained  in  the  honour  and  up- 
rightness of  his  conduct." l  Nor  was  Robert  Montgomery 
less  cordial  in  his  acceptance  of  Taylor's  finding.  "  To 
me  the  whole  report  seemed  more  satisfactory  than  any 
one  I  had  ever  read;  and  considering  Major  Taylor's  high 
character,  patience,  and  discernment,  and  the  lengthened 
1  Quoted  in  Blackwood's  Magazine  for  March  1899. 


Under  a  Cloud  i  27 

period  he  took  to  investigate  every  detail,  most  trium- 
phant. This  I  have  expressed  to  all  with  whom  I  have 
conversed  on  the  subject." 

Hardly  had  Taylor  set  to  work  on  his  report  when  he 
wrote  to  the  Chief  Commissioner  in  December,  1855, 
suggesting  that  as  so  much  publicity  had  been  given  to 
the  previous  court  of  inquiry  which  had  reported  un- 
favourably to  Hodson,  a  similarly  public  court  should 
again  assemble  to  consider  the  results  of  his  own  investi- 
gations. To  so  reasonable  a  suggestion  the  authorities 
turned  a  deaf  ear.  It  is  true  that  the  Chief  Commis- 
sioner yielded  at  one  time  to  Taylor's  urgency,  and 
advised  the  commander- in-chief  to  grant  the  further 
inquiry  which  Taylor  and  Hodson  agreed  in  desiring. 
But  Sir  William  Gomm  held  to  his  own  view  that  neither 
a  court  nor  a  committee  of  inquiry  was  necessary,  since 
Major  Taylor  was  willing  to  grant  Lieutenant  Hodson  a 
full  acquittance  on  all  points  connected  with  his  accounts. 
The  Chief  Commissioner  seems  to  have  concurred  in  this 
view. 

The  whole  matter  was  then  laid  before  the  Government 
of  India,  and  this  was  the  answer  forwarded  by  Colonel 
Birch  to  the  Adjutant-General  on  December  22,  1855:  "  I 
am  directed  to  acquaint  you,  for  the  information  of  the 
commander-in-chief,  that  the  Most  Noble  the  Governor- 
General  in  Council  concurs  in  opinion  with  his  Excellency 
that  further  proceedings  on  the  point  [of  Hodson's 
accounts]  are  unnecessary,  and  his  lordship  in  Council 
would  accordingly  allow  Lieutenant  Hodson  to  receive 
the  acquittance,  and  thus  close  this  harassing  and  painful 
business." 

The  final  decision  upon  Hodson's  case  was  thus  reported 
to  the  Court  of  Directors  by  the  new  Governor-General,. 
Lord  Canning,  on  March  13,  1856: — 

"  Your  honourable  Court  will  observe  that  we  have 
felt  compelled  to  place  Lieutenant  Hodson  at  the  disposal 
of  his  Excellency  the  commander-in-chief. 

"  After  having  given  our  attentive  consideration  to  all 
the  circumstances  connected  with  this  case,  we  have, 
in  concurrence  with  the  opinion  of  his  Excellency  the 
commander-in-chief,  General  Sir  W.  Gomm,  K.C.B., 


128  Major  W.  Hodson 

decided  that  as  Major  Taylor,  the  officiating  commandant 
of  the  corps  of  Guides,  was  willing  to  grant  an  acquit- 
tance to  Lieutenant  Hodson  on  all  points  connected  with 
his  accounts,  further  proceedings  in  the  matter  were  un- 
necessary, and  we  have  accordingly  allowed  that  officer 
to  receive  the  acquittance,  and  have  thus  closed  this 
case." 

By  this  time  Taylor's  full  report  had  been  laid  before 
the  Chief  Commissioner,  Sir  John  Lawrence,  who  for- 
warded it  in  due  course  to  Simla.  No  action,  however, 
seems  to  have  been  taken  by  the  Indian  Government 
beyond  a  brief  note  by  one  of  the  secretaries,  and  the 
briefer  comment  of  a  member  of  Council.  It  is  almost 
certain  that  the  report  was  never  shown  either  to  the 
Governor-General  or  the  commander-in-chief.  In  short, 
as  a  trustworthy  correspondent  assures  me,  "  it  was  filed 
and  put  away,  nor  was  seen  again  apparently  by  any  one 
till  I  had  it  dug  out." l 

This  chapter  may  fitly  close  with  the  following  passage 
from  the  article  to  which  I  have  already  referred:  "  All 
the  world  knew  that  a  court  of  inquiry  had  sat  to  examine 
Hodson's  accounts, — all  the  world  knew  that  Hodson  was 
removed  from  the  command  of  the  Guides ;  but  the  world 
did  not  know,  and  to  this  day  does  not  know,  that  the 
second  fact  was  in  no  way  consequent  on  the  first.  It  is 
not  known  that  (as  was  written  by  Colonel  Macpherson, 
military  secretary  to  the  Punjab  Government)  '  the 
military  court  of  inquiry  had  nothing  whatever  to  say 
to,  and  was  in  no  way  concerned  with,  the  removal  of 
the  late  Major  (then  Lieutenant)  Hodson  from  the  com- 
mand of  the  Guides  ' ;  and  again,  '  In  so  far  as  the  court 
of  inquiry  was  concerned,  Major  Hodson,  had  he  survived, 
might  perhaps  have  commanded  the  corps  of  Guides  to 
this  day.'  Nor  is  it  generally  known,  except  by  hearsay, 
how  extraordinarily  convincing  a  proof  of  Hodson's 
innocence  of  all  the  charges  affecting  his  honour  is  Taylor's 
detailed  report."  2 

1  Private  letter  of  September  g,  1899. 
a  Blackwood's  Magazine  for  March  1899. 


CHAPTER  XII 

WAITING   FOR   BETTER   TIMES.      1856-1857 

IT  is  needless  here  to  speculate  on  the  hidden  causes 
which  baffled  all  Reynell  Taylor's  efforts  to  win  for 
Hodson  a  public  and  impartial  re-hearing  of  the  case 
which  he  himself  had  gone  through  so  carefully  with  a 
single  eye  for  the  truth.  In  the  virtual  suppression  of  his 
final  report  we  may  see  the  fitting  sequel  to  the  previous 
injustice.  Hodson's  character  had  been  cleared  of  all 
reproach  by  one  of  the  noblest  and  most  capable  officers 
in  the  Company's  service,  who  had  himself  been  some- 
what prejudiced  against  the  accused  by  the  stories  at 
that  time  current  at  Peshawar. 

"  The  investigation  by  Reynell  Taylor  was  complete 
and  searching,  occupying  as  it  did  many  months,"  wrote 
Lord  Napier  to  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Hodson  in  1884.  "  No 
man  of  higher  honour  or  ability  could  have  been  chosen 
for  such  a  duty,  high-minded,  pure  in  character,  pains- 
taking, and  indefatigable. 

"  That  Hodson's  full  acquittal  from  the  inquiry  was 
not  at  once  accepted  and  acknowledged,  I  considered 
then,  and  consider  still,  a  grievous  wrong.  Your  brother 
was  left  for  many  months  exposed  to  all  the  discredit  of 
accusations  made  against  him,  and  greatly  exaggerated- 
by  rumours,  while  his  judges'  favourable  verdict  was 
reserved.  To  this  course  I  attribute  the  prejudice 
against  him  on  the  part  of  many  who  listened  too  easily 
to  stories  to  his  discredit. 

"  Though  not  agreeing  with  your  brother  in  all  things, 
I  never  doubted  his  honour  and  integrity,  and  I  maintain 
my  full  belief  in  them  now.  Those  who  thought  other- 
wise might  have  left  undisturbed  the  grave  of  a  gallant 
soldier  who  had  fought  so  bravely  and  successfully  for 
his  country."1 

1  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse. 

129  I 


130  Major  W.  Hodson 

In  common  justice  to  both  the  officers  specially  con- 
cerned, the  result  of  Taylor's  private  but  official  inquiry 
into  Hodson's  alleged  misuse  of  public  moneys  ought  to 
have  been  made  at  least  as  widely  known  as  the  charges 
laid  before  Colonel  Craigie's  court.  But  in  spite  of 
Taylor's  exculpatory  verdict,  the  mischief  wrought  by 
official  reticence  was  allowed  to  reap  its  inevitable 
harvest. 

It  was  known  that  Hodson  had  been  removed  from 
the  command  of  the  Guides,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  generally  known  that  the  cause  of  this  removal  was 
to  be  found,  not  in  his  dealings  with  the  regimental 
accounts,  but  only  in  his  high-handed  treatment  of 
Khadir  Khan.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  many 
of  those  who  bore  him  no  personal  grudge  should  have 
accepted  that  darker  version  of  the  facts  which  his 
enemies  were  prompt  to  circulate,  and  that  even  Taylor's 
character  for  shrewdness  and  impartiality  should  have 
been  called  in  question  by  those  who  had  never  studied 
his  report. 

It  seems  also  clear  that  to  the  same  cause  may  be 
ascribed  that  further  crop  of  stories  which  in  after-years 
represented  Hodson  as  a  past-master  in  the  art  of  en- 
riching himself  at  other  people's  expense. 

In  January,  1856,  while  Hodson  and  his  wife  were 
staying  at  Peshawar,  they  were  cheered  by  a  visit  from 
her  son,  young  Reveley  Mitford,  now  a  retired  major- 
general,  who  had  come  thither  on  leave,  pending  the 
result  of  his  application  to  be  transferred  from  the  gth 
Native  Infantry  to  the  3rd  Bengal  Europeans,  then 
stationed  at  Agra.  Hodson  and  his  stepson  often  acted 
as  gallopers  on  field-days  to  Brigadier  (afterwards  Sir 
Sydney)  Cotton.  On  one  occasion,  writes  General 
Mitford,  "  Hodson  wanted  to  have  a  talk  with  the  officer 
commanding  Fort  Michni,  and  I  rode  out  with  him  and 
had  tiffin  at  the  fort,  where  I  myself  commanded  in  1877. 
We  stayed  rather  late,  and  did  not  leave  till  sundown. 
There  was  then  only  a  track  between  Peshawar  and 
Michni,  thirteen  miles,  frequently  crossing  dry  nullahs, 
and  running  through  tracts  of  brushwood  and  scrub. 
We  were  approaching  one  of  these  nullahs  when  I  called 


Waiting  for  Better  Times         I  3 1 

Hodson's  attention  to  some  sparks  on  the  opposite  bank; 
he  at  once  said, '  Keep  quiet  and  follow  me.'  We  turned 
off  at  right  angles,  and  immediately  three  shots  were 
fired  at  us,  and  I  heard  for  the  first  time  the  '  ping  '  of  a 
bullet.  '  That's  all  right,'  said  Hodson,  '  now  we  know 
where  they  are.'  We  crossed  the  nullah  lower  down  and 
regained  the  track  by  a  circuitous  route.  All  he  said 
about  it  was,  '  Don't  tell  your  mother — it  will  only  make 
her  anxious.'  " 

In  the  spring  of  the  same  year  Mitford  marched  down 
with  the  Hodsons  to  Ambala.  "  At  Lahore,"  adds  my 
informant,  "  he  took  me  to  see  many  of  the  Sikh  sirdars, 
who  seemed  devoted  to  him.  Old  Tej  Singh  lent  his  four 
best  mules  to  '  horse  '  the  ghdri  to  Amritsar.  On  arriving 
at  Ambala  I  left  them  to  join  my  regiment  at  Agra." 
Hodson  himself  made  his  way  to  the  hill  station  of 
Dagshai,  and  quietly  resumed  his  place  as  regimental 
subaltern  in  the  ist  Bengal  Fusiliers.  In  passing  through 
Ambala  he  had  been  "  much  gratified  by  an  unexpected 
visit  from  Mr.  Charles  Raikes,  one  of  the  Punjab  Com- 
missioners, who  was  passing  through  Ambala  on  his  way 
to  take  a  high  appointment  at  Agra.  I  had  no  personal 
knowledge  of  him,  but  he  came  out  of  his  way  to  call 
upon  me,  and  express  his  sympathy  and  appreciation  of 
(what  he  was  pleased  to  call)  my  high  character. 

"  He  said  much  that  was  encouraging  and  pleasing, 
which  I  need  not  repeat.  It  served  pleasantly,  however, 
to  show  that  the  tide  was  turning,  and  that  in  good 
men's  minds  my  character  stood  as  high  as  ever." 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  a  man  of  Hodson's  stamp 
would  accept  without  a  struggle  the  sentence  passed  upon 
him  by  the  Indian  Government  in  respect  of  the  Khadir 
Khan  affair.  In  the  midst  of  his  efforts  to  clear  himself 
from  blame  concerning  the  regimental  accounts  of  the 
Guides,  he  had  consulted  one  at  least  of  his  friends  as 
to  the  best  means  of  obtaining  redress  for  what  he  honestly 
considered  a  grievous  wrong.  The  answer  he  received 
from  Robert  Montgomery  in  November,  1855,  was  not 
encouraging:  "  I  do  not  think  you  can  do  anything 
regarding  Khadir  Khan's  case.  The  Supreme  Court 
would  not  interfere  in  a  public  and  official  representa- 


132  Major  W.  Hodson 

tion  made  to  the  Governor-General  and  accepted  by 
him.  You  could  not  appeal  to  me.1  You  might  appeal 
to  the  Court  of  Directors  if  you  consider  you  have  been 
unfairly  dealt  with.  In  this  country  you  cannot  succeed, 
and  there  is  no  use  in  your  trying.  To  the  Court  you 
can  alone  go ;  but  I  do  not  say  whether  you  ought  or  not. 
I  am  sincerely  glad  to  learn  from  your  extract  what 
Major  Taylor  thinks  of  your  accounts.  It  is,  indeed,  a 
triumph  for  you,  and  ought  to  go  far  in  clearing  you 
with  your  superiors.  You  have  passed  through  a  severe 
ordeal,  and  I  hope  better  times  are  in  store  for  you.  I 
saw  your  father's  death  in  the  papers,  and  can  well 
believe  how  much  you  feel  his  loss." 

The  death  from  cholera  of  his  father,  the  good  old 
Archdeacon  of  Stafford,  had  occurred  some  weeks  before 
at  Riva,  whither  he  had  gone  for  a  month's  rest  and 
change  of  air.  "  The  blow,"  he  wrote  to  his  sister,  "  was 
overwhelming;  coming,  too,  at  a  time  of  unprecedented 
suffering  and  trial,  it  was  hard  to  bear  up  against.  What 
a  year  this  has  been !  What  ages  of  trial  and  of  sorrow 
seem  to  have  been  crowded  into  a  few  short  months! 
Our  darling  babe  was  taken  from  us  on  the  day  my 
public  misfortunes  began,  and  death  has  robbed  us  of 
our  father  before  their  end.  The  brain-pressure  was 
almost  too  much  for  me,  coming  as  the  tidings  did  at  a 
time  of  peculiar  distress.  .  .  .  The  whole,  indeed,  is  so 
peculiarly  sad  that  one's  heart  seems  chilled  and  dulled 
by  the  very  horror  of  the  calamity." 

Hodson's  health,  which  had  been  severely  tried  by  the 
pressure  of  his  recent  troubles,  soon  began  to  recover 
itself  in  the  bracing  air  of  a  station  7000  feet  above  the 
sea.  "  This  is  a  great  thing,"  he  writes  on  April  8,  "  but 
it  is  very  hard  to  begin  again  as  a  regimental  subaltern 
after  nearly  eleven  years'  hard  work.  However,  I  am 
very  fond  of  the  profession,  and  there  is  much  to  be 
done  and  much  learnt,  and  under  any  other  circum- 
stances I  should  not  regret  being  with  English  soldiers 
again  for  a  time.  Every  one  believes  that  I  shall  soon 
be  righted,  but  the  '  soon  '  is  a  long  time  coming." 

Among  those  who  received  him  with  special  kindliness 

1  Montgomery  was  then  Judicial  Commissioner  for  the  Punjab. 


Waiting  for  Better  Times        133 

was  the  officer  commanding  his  regiment,  Colonel  John 
Welchman,  who  had  led  the  ist  Fusiliers  with  honour 
through  all  the  fighting  and  hardships  of  the  second 
Burmese  war.  His  sympathies  had  already  been  won 
in  Hodson's  favour  by  the  letter  which  Colonel  Robert 
Napier  had  addressed  him  from  Ambala  a  few  days 
before  Hodson  reached  Dagshai.  It  is  worth  inserting 
at  full  length: — 

"  MY  DEAR  COLONEL  WELCHMAN — I  have  great  pleasure 
in  meeting  your  request,  to  state  in  writing  my  opinion 
regarding  my  friend  Lieutenant  Hodson's  case.  Having 
been  on  intimate  terms  of  friendship  with  him  since  1846, 
I  was  quite  unprepared  for  the  reports  to  his  disadvantage 
which  were  circulated,  and  had  no  hesitation  in  pro- 
nouncing my  utter  disbelief  in,  and  repudiation  of,  them 
as  being  at  variance  with  everything  I  had  ever  known 
of  his  character.  On  arriving  at  Peshawar  in  March, 
1855,  I  f°und  that  Lieutenant  Hodson  had  been  under- 
going a  course  of  inquiry  before  a  special  military  court, 
and  on  reading  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  I  perceived  at 
once  that  the  whole  case  lay  in  the  correctness  of  his 
regimental  accounts;  that  his  being  summoned  before  a 
court,  after  suspension  from  civil  and  military  duty,  and 
after  an  open  invitation  (under  regimental  authority)  to 
all  complainants  in  his  regiment,  was  a  most  unusual 
ordeal,  such  as  no  man  could  be  subjected  to  without 
the  greatest  disadvantage;  and  notwithstanding  this, 
the  proceedings  did  not  contain  a  single  substantial  case 
against  him,  provided  he  could  establish  the  validity  of 
his  regimental  accounts ;  and  that  he  could  do  this  I  felt 
more  than  confident. 

"  The  result  of  Major  Taylor's  laborious  and  patient 
investigation  of  Lieutenant  Hodson's  regimental  accounts 
has  fully  justified,  but  has  not  at  all  added  to,  the  con- 
fidence that  I  have  throughout  maintained  in  the  honour 
and  uprightness  of  his  conduct.  It  has,  however,  shown 
(what  I  believed,  but  had  not  the  same  means  of  judging 
of)  how  much  labour  Lieutenant  Hodson  bestowed  in 
putting  the  affairs  of  his  regiment  in  order.  Having  seen 
a  great  deal  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Guide  Corps  has 


134  Major  W.  Hodson 

been  employed,  I  can  well  understand  how  difficult  it 
has  been  to  maintain  anything  like  regularity  of  office, 
and  how  impossible  it  may  be  for  those  who  remain 
quietly  in  stations  with  efficient  establishments  to  under- 
stand or  make  allowance  for  the  difficulties  and  irregu- 
larities entailed  by  rapid  movements  on  service,  and  want 
of  proper  office  means  in  adjusting  accounts  for  which 
no  organised  system  had  been  established.  The  manner 
in  which  Lieutenant  Hodson  has  elucidated  his  accounts 
since  he  had  access  to  the  necessary  sources  of  informa- 
tion appears  to  be  highly  creditable.  I  have  twice  had 
the  good  fortune  to  have  been  associated  with  him  on 
military  service,  when  his  high  qualities  commanded 
admiration.  I  heartily  rejoice,  therefore,  both  as  a 
friend  and  as  a  member  of  the  service,  '  at  his  vindica- 
tion from  most  grievous  and  unjust  imputations.'  And 
while  I  congratulate  the  regiment  on  his  return  to  it,  I 
regret  that  one  of  the  best  swords  should  be  withdrawn 
from  the  frontier  service. — Yours  very  sincerely, 

"  R.  NAPIER."  * 

The  warmth  and  clearness  of  Napier's  pleadings  on 
behalf  of  his  old  comrade  impelled  Colonel  Welchman  to 
give  Hodson  the  post  of  quartermaster  to  his  regiment. 
About  this  time,  however,  he  had  contrived  to  dislocate 
one  of  his  ankles  by  a  fall  from  the  roof  of  a  lower  room 
in  his  house. 

"  I  am  just  able,"  he  writes  on  July  31,  to  the  Rev. 
F.  A.  Foster,  "  at  the  end  of  upwards  of  fifteen  weeks, 
to  walk  with  the  aid  of  a  stick  and  discard  my  crutches. 
The  constant  recumbent  attitude  was  not  provocative  to 
writing,  and  there  was  much  which  I  was  bound  to  attend 
to,  being  a  regimental  staff  officer  now  with  a  great  deal 
of  responsibility.  I  can  give  you  very  little  good  news 
as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  grieve  to  say.  Although  the 
result  of  the  inquiry  which  I  so  long  demanded  in  vain 
into  my  regimental  finance  accounts  of  the  Guide  Corps 
was  pronounced  to  be  '  triumphant,'  no  notice  whatever 
has  been  taken  of  it  by  Government.  The  powerful 
hostility  of  the  Punjab  Government,  which  provoked 
1  Hodson  of  Hodson' s  Horse. 


Waiting  for  Better  Times         135 

and  invited  the  attack  upon  me,  has  been  too  strong  to 
allow  the  most  ordinary  justice  to  be  done  me  as  yet, 
though  public  feeling  (as  far  as  there  is  any  such  thing 
in  India)  has  been  manifested  most  strongly  and  in  a 
very  gratifying  manner  in  my  favour.  What  the  result 
may  be  eventually  it  is  impossible  to  foresee!  My  ruin 
in  the  meantime  is  absolute  and  complete.  Two  years 
ago  I  was  in  the  most  envied  position  on  the  frontier — 
commanding  a  distinguished  regiment,  which  I  had  helped 
to  raise  and  form,  and  which  I  had  myself  instructed,  and 
governing  an  important  district;  and  I  was  in  receipt  of 
a  hardly-earned  (but  honourably  earned)  income  of  £1200 
a-year.  I  am  now  a  regimental  subaltern  on  £300,  or 
rather  £250,  a-year!  And  all  this  without  fault  of  mine, 
but  simply  from  the  bitter  enmity  of  one  man  whose 
official  position  gave  him  the  long-sought  opportunity  of 
gratifying  his  rage. 

"  However,  I  trust  I  am  too  much  of  a  soldier  to 
permit  myself  to  be  subdued  by  reverses,  or  to  sit  down 
and  fret  over  the  irremediable  past.  There  is  much  to 
do — some  good,  I  trust,  to  be  effected — and  much  to  be 
learnt  in  this  regiment,  and  I  am  not  sorry,  per  se,  to 
have  the  opportunity  of  being  more  amongst  English 
soldiers  than  I  have  been  of  late  years.  I  do  not  say, 
however,  that  I  do  not  feel  the  reverse  most  keenly.  It 
is  a  great  comfort,  though,  to  feel  that  I  have  nothing 
to  be  ashamed  of,  nothing  to  look  back  upon  I  would 
wish  concealed  from  my  friends  or  the  world.  Of  course 
I  admit  that  there  are  many  things  in  which  I  might 
with  present  experience  have  acted  differently,  perhaps 
more  wisely  and  more  well.  To  which  of  us  does  it 
happen  on  reviewing  his  past  life  to  say,  '  Were  I  to  live 
over  the  past  ten  years  again,  I  would  do  precisely  as  I 
have  done,  untaught  by  the  past '  ?  But  one  thing  I 
can  say,  that  I  have  acted  to  the  best  of  my  powers,  for 
what  I  believed  to  be  the  true  interests  of  those  committed 
to  my  charge,  without  selfishness  or  self-seeking,  and  that 
I  never  sacrificed  what  I  believed  to  be  my  duty  to  any 
private  feelings  or  considerations  whatever.  The  blow 
has  been,  as  you  may  conceive,  a  very  bitter  one  for  my 
darling  wife :  she  naturally  feels  the  reverse  most  acutely, 


136  Major  W.  Hodson 

and  coming  as  it  did  upon  the  terrible  grief  we  had  to 
bear  in  the  loss  of  our  only  babe,  her  life  has  been  terribly 
embittered,  nor  has  her  health  escaped  uninjured.  For 
myself,  I  have  to  be  thankful  for  good  health,  and  that 
I  am  quartered  in  a  healthy  hill  climate  near  Simla." 

In  the  latter  part  of  September  he  was  getting  a  little 
stronger  upon  his  ankle,  but  still  unable  to  do  more  than 
walk  about  the  house. 

On  November  6,  he  writes  of  his  yearning  for  a  visit 
home:  "But  I  am  obliged  to  check  all  such  repinings 
and  .longings,  and  keep  down  all  canker  cares  and  bitter- 
nesses, and  set  my  teeth  hard,  and  will  earnestly  to 
struggle  on  and  do  my  allotted  work  as  well  and  cheer- 
fully as  may  be,  satisfied  that  in  the  end  a  brighter  time 
will  come." 

He  still  caught  at  every  opportunity  of  trying  to  get 
justice  done  him  by  the  Punjab  Government.  But  the 
following  letter  from  Captain  Richard  Lawrence  closed 
the  door  to  all  further  efforts  in  that  direction : — 

November  20. 

"  MY  DEAR  HODSON, — I  duly  laid  your  letter  before 
the  Chief  Commissioner,  and  he  desires  me  to  intimate 
to  you  that  he  objects  to  again  address  Government 
regarding  your  case,  as  he  does  not  see  how  he  could  do 
so  with  propriety.  I  should  have  been  glad  had  it  been 
in  my  power  to  assist  you  in  this  matter." 

In  spite  of  his  maimed  ankle  and  of  mental  worries, 
which  might  well  have  soured  the  sweetest  nature,  he  set 
himself  to  discharge  his  regimental  duties  with  a  zeal 
and  an  energy  which  elicited  the  warmest  praise  from 
his  commanding  officer.  On  January  18,  1857,  Colonel 
Welchman  addressed  the  following  appeal  to  the  adjutant- 
general  of  the  army : — 

"  I  consider  it  a  duty,  and  at  the  same  time  feel  a  great 
pleasure,  in  requesting  you  to  submit,  for  the  considera- 
tion of  his  Excellency  the  commander-in-chief,  this  my 
public  record  and  acknowledgment  of  the  very  essential 
service  Lieutenant  Hodson  has  done  the  regiment  at 
.my  especial  request.  On  the  arrival  of  the  regiment  at 


Waiting  for  Better  Times         i  37 

Dagshai  I  asked  Lieutenant  Hodson  to  act  as  quarter- 
master. I  pointed  out  to  him  that,  mainly  owing  to  a 
rapid  succession  of  quartermasters  when  the  regiment 
was  on  field-service,  the  office  had  fallen  into  very  great 
disorder,  .  .  .  and  that  he  would  have  to  restore  order 
out  of  complicated  disorder,  and  to  organise  a  more 
efficient  working  system  for  future  guidance  and  observ- 
ance. To  my  great  relief  and  satisfaction,  Lieutenant 
Hodson  most  cheerfully  undertook  the  onerous  duties: 
he  was  suffering  at  the  same  time  severe  bodily  pain, 
consequent  on  a  serious  accident,  yet  this  did  not  in  any 
way  damp  his  energy  or  prevent  his  most  successfully 
carrying  out  the  object  in  view.  ...  It  is  impossible  to 
do  otherwise  than  believe  that  this  officer's  numerous 
qualifications  are  virtually  lost  to  the  State  by  his  being 
employed  as  a  regimental  subaltern,  as  he  is  fitted  for, 
and  capable  of  doing  great  justice  to,  any  staff  situation; 
and  I  am  convinced  that,  should  his  Excellency  receive 
with  approval  this  solicitation  to  confer  on  him  some 
appointment  suited  to  the  high  ability,  energy,  and  zeal 
which  I  fear  I  have  but  imperfectly  brought  to  notice, 
it  would  be  as  highly  advantageous  to  the  service  as 
gratifying  to  myself.  An  officer  whose  superior  mental 
acquirements  are  fully  acknowledged  by  all  who  know 
him;  who  has  ably  performed  the  duties  of  a  civil 
magistrate  in  a  disturbed  district;  whose  knowledge  of 
engineering  has  been  practically  brought  into  play  in  the 
construction  of  a  fort  on  the  north-western  frontier; 
whose  gallant  conduct  in  command  of  a  regiment  in 
many  a  smart  engagement  has  been  so  highly  com- 
mended, and  by  such  competent  authorities, — is  one 
whom  I  have  confidence  in  recommending  for  advance- 
ment: and  in  earnestly,  yet  most  respectfully,  pressing 
the  recommendation,  I  plead  this  officer's  high  qualifica- 
tions as  my  best  apology.  .  .  . — I  have,  etc., 

J.  WELCHMAN,  Lieut.-Col. 
Commanding  ist  Bengal  Fusiliers." 

The  ist  Fusiliers  had  gone  down  to  Ambala  to  take 
part  in  the  winter  camp  of  exercise  under  Brigadier- 
General  Johnstone,  commanding  the  Sirhind  Division. 


138  Major  W.  Hodson 

In  appending  his  counter-signature  to  Welchman's  appeal, 
the  Brigadier-General  begged  "  to  accompany  Colonel 
Welchman's  letter  with  a  testimony  of  my  own  to  the 
high  character  of  the  officer  in  question. 

"  Rejoining  his  regiment  as  a  lieutenant,  from  the 
exercise  of  an  important  command  calling  daily  for  the 
display  of  his  energy,  activity,  and  self-reliance,  and 
frequently  for  the  manifestation  of  the  highest  qualities 
of  the  partisan  leader  or  of  the  regular  soldier,  Lieutenant 
Hodson  with  patience,  perseverance,  and  zeal  undertook 
and  carried  out  the  laborious  minor  duties  of  the  regimental 
staff  as  well  as  those  of  a  company ;  and  with  a  diligence, 
method,  and  accuracy,  such  as  the  best  trained  regimental 
officers  have  never  surpassed,  succeeded  in  a  manner  fully 
justifying  the  high  commendation  bestowed  on  him  by 
his  commanding  officer.  As  a  soldier  in  the  field  Lieu- 
tenant Hodson  has  gained  the  applause  of  officers  of  the 
highest  reputation,  eye-witnesses  of  his  ability  and  courage. 
On  the  testimony  of  others  I  refer  to  these,  and  that 
testimony  so  honourable  to  his  name  I  beg  herewith  to 
submit  to  his  Excellency. 

"  On  my  own  observation  I  am  enabled  to  speak  to 
Lieutenant  Hodson's  character  and  qualities  in  quarters, 
and  I  do  so  in  terms  of  well-earned  commendation,  and 
at  the  same  time  in  the  earnest  hope  that  his  merits  and 
qualifications  will  obtain  for  him  such  favour  and  pre- 
ferment at  the  hands  of  his  Excellency  as  he  may  deem 
fit  to  bestow  on  this  deserving  officer." 

To  an  appeal  so  just,  so  earnestly  worded,  no  answer 
appears  to  have  come  from  Sir  William  Gomm's  head- 
quarters. Meanwhile  a  new  hope  had  dawned  for  Hodson 
with  the  breaking  out  of  war  between  Persia  and  the 
Government  of  India.  Could  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  help 
him  to  retrieve  his  broken  fortunes  by  means  of  soldierly 
service  with  the  army  which  Outram  had  been  selected 
to  command?  His  letter  to  Sir  Henry,  who  had  just 
been  appointed  Chief  Commissioner  for  Oudh,  at  once 
drew  forth  from  his  old  friend  the  following  answer: — 

"  LUCKNOW,  March  21,  1857. 
"  The  day  I  received  your  letter  I  answered  it,  but 


Waiting  for  Better  Times        139 

have  my  reply  still  in  my  desk,  as  I  feared  it  might  raise 
undue  hopes.  The  fact  is,  I  doubt  if  any  man  could 
help  you  just  now,  and  were  I  to  be  refused  once,  it  might 
prevent  me  helping  you  hereafter.  I  have  therefore  also 
kept  back  a  chit  [Anglice,  note]  I  wrote  to  Colonel  Birch 
about  you,  recommending  you  for  Persia.  If  the  cam- 
paign lasts  I  will  try  and  get  you  there,  as  I  know  no 
better  sword  than  yours.  I  should  think  that  either 
General  Outram  or  Jacob  would  appreciate  you." 

Early  in  April,  Hodson  was  back  again  in  Dagshai, 
whence  on  the  yth  he  wrote  to  his  brother:  "  Your  letter 
written  this  day  three  months  reached  me  at  Ambala,  at 
our  mildest  of  Chobhams,1  in  the  middle  of  February,  and 
deserved  an  earlier  reply;  but  I  have  been  taken  quite 
out  of  the  private-correspondence  line  lately  by  incessant 
calls  on  my  time.  Regimental  work  in  camp  in  India 
with  European  regiments,  no  less  than  in  quarters,  is 
contrived  to  cut  up  one's  time  into  infinitesimal  quantities, 
and  keep  one  waiting  for  every  other  half-hour  through 
the  day.  I  had  more  time  for  writing  when  I  com- 
manded a  frontier  regiment  and  governed  a  province  I 
These  winter  camps  are  very  profitable,  however,  and  not 
by  any  means  unpleasant ;  and  as  Ambala  was  very  full, 
we  had  an  unusual  amount  of  society  for  India,  and  some 
very  pleasant  meetings.  I  was  too  lame  to  dance,  but 
not  to  dine  and  take  part  in  charades  or  tableaux  and 
so  forth,  and  so  contrived  to  keep  alive  after  the  day's 
work  was  over.  I  got  some  kudos  and  vast  kindness  for 
performing  the  more  strictly  professional  role  of  brigade- 
major  to  one  of  the  infantry  brigades,  and  had  excellent 
opportunities  of  learning  the  essential,  but  so  seldom 
taught  or  learned,  art  of  manoeuvring  bodies  of  troops. 
My  service  has  been  so  much  on  the  frontier  and  with 
detached  corps  that  I  had  previously  had  but  small 
opportunities  for  the  study." 

In  the  same  letter  he  goes  on  to  describe  the  result  of 
his  first  interview  with  General  Anson,  the  new  com- 
mander-in-chief :  "  He  is  a  very  pleasant-mannered  and 

1  At  Chobham,  in  Surrey,  was  held  the  first  camp  of  exercise  in 
1854. 


140  Major  W.  Hodson 

gentlemanly  man,  open  and  frank  in  speech,  and  quick 
to  a  proverb  in  apprehension,  taking  in  the  pith  of  a 
matter  at  a  glance.  As  I  always  thought,  it  turned  out 
that  Major  Taylor's  report  had  never  reached  the  com- 
mander-in-chief,  and  they  had  only  the  old  one-sided 
story  to  go  upon.  I  explained  the  whole  to  him,  and  as 
he  had  already  very  kindly  read  the  papers  relating  to 
the  matter,  he  quite  comprehended  it,  and  begged  me  to 
give  him  a  copy  of  Taylor's  report,  when  he  would,  if 
satisfied,  try  and  see  justice  done  me.  I  trust,  therefore, 
that  at  last  something  will  be  done  to  clear  me  from  all 
stigma  in  the  matter.  As  soon  as  that  is  done  he  will 
give  me  some  appointment  or  other,  unless  Government 
do  it  themselves." 

The  opportunity  for  which  he  was  so  anxiously  waiting 
was  at  that  moment  very  near  at  hand.  The  shadows  of 
a  great  sepoy  mutiny  were  already  falling  over  the  land : 
"  We  are  in  a  state  of  some  anxiety  owing  to  the  spread 
of  a  very  serious  spirit  of  disaffection  among  the  sepoy 
army.  One  regiment  (the  igth  of  the  line)  has  already 
been  disbanded,  and  if  all  have  their  dues,  more  yet  will 
be  so  before  long.  It  is  our  great  danger  in  India;  and 
Lord  Hardinge's  prophecy,  that  our  biggest  fight  in  India 
would  be  with  our  own  army,  seems  not  unlikely  to  be 
realised,  and  that  before  long.  Native  papers,  education, 
and  progress  are  against  keeping  200,000  native  mer- 
cenaries in  hand." 

In  the  latter  part  of  April,  Hodson  went  up  to  Simla 
for  the  purpose  of  pleading  his  cause  with  the  commander- 
in-chief. 

On  the  22nd,  he  writes  to  his  wife — 

"  I  am  just  come  back  from  hunting  about  ever  since 
breakfast  and  seeing  the  big-wigs  too  late  for  to-day's 
post,  but  I  will  begin  this  before  it  be  too  late  to 
see. 

"  I  found  an  invitation  for  to-night  to  dinner  awaiting 
me  from  General  Anson.  I  have  seen  Colonel  Curzon, 
and  he  says  that  though  the  general  has  not  yet  read  the 
memorandum  or  report,  yet  he  will  do  so  while  I  am 
here,  and  see  me  also  before  I  go  down  again. 

"  He  will  mention  to  the  general  my  plan  of  going  to 


Waiting  for  Better  Times        141 

Calcutta,  and  says  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the 
general  will  say  '  Go.' 

"  I  have  since  seen  Colonel  Chester  (our  adjutant- 
general),  the  way  having  been  kindly  smoothed  for  me 
by  Mr.  Sloggett.1  His  mind  was  a  blank  regarding  the 
whole  affair,  having  never  heard  a  word  about  it  owing 
to  his  absence  in  England  at  the  time.  He  only  knew 
that  I  had  lost  my  appointment — was  most  kind  and 
interested,  and  listened  to  my  resume  of  the  case.  He 
has  promised  to  read  all  the  papers,  and  asked  for  Taylor's 
report  (which  of  course  he  had  never  heard  of)  and  my 
memorandum,  both  which  I  have  given  him,  with  Colonel 
Napier's  letter.  He  has  the  usual  high  opinion  of  Taylor, 
and  was  much  satisfied  to  hear  Montgomery's  opinion. 
You  see  at  present  all  goes  well.  Chester,  I  should  add, 
very  strongly  advises  the  Calcutta  plan,  and  says  Lord 
Canning  is  a  most  just  man,  and  would  not,  if  he  knew  it, 
allow  an  injustice  to  be  continued." 

It  had  now,  in  fact,  become  Hodson's  fixed  intention 
to  go  down  to  Calcutta  and  lay  his  case  in  person  before 
the  Governor-General.  "  There  were  clearly  three  courses 
open  to  me,  '  a  la  Sir  Robert  Peel ':  ist,  suicide;  2nd, 
to  resign  the  service  in  disgust  and  join  the  enemy;  3rd, 
to  make  the  Governor-General  eat  his  words  and  apologise. 
I  chose  the  last.  The  first  was  too  melodramatic  and 
foreign;  the  second  would  have  been  a  triumph  to  my 
foes  in  the  Punjab, — besides,  the  enemy  might  have  been 
beaten!  I  have  determined,  therefore,  on  a  trip  to 
Calcutta." 

Meanwhile  he  had  had  another  interview  with  General 
Anson  at  Simla.  "  Nothing,"  he  wrote  to  his  brother, 
"  could  have  been  more  satisfactory.  He  was  most  polite, 
even  cordial,  and  while  he  approved  of  my  suggestion  of 
going  down  to  Calcutta  to  have  personal  explanations 
with  the  people  there,  and  evidently  thought  it  a  plucky 
idea  to  undertake  a  journey  of  2500  miles  in  such  weather 
(May  and  June),  yet  he  said  that  I  had  better  wait  till  I 
heard  again  from  him,  for  he  would  write  himself  to  Lord 
Canning  and  try  to  get  justice  done  me. 

"  I  do  trust  the  light  is  breaking  through  the  darkness, 
1  Then  military  chaplain  of  Dagshai. 


142  Major  W.  Hodson 

and  that  before  long  I  may  have  good  news  to  send  you, 
in  which  I  am  sure  you  will  rejoice." 

It  was  fortunate  for  Hodson,  and  indeed  for  all  India, 
that  by  Anton's  advice  he  waited  on  at  Dagshai  until  the 
answer  from  Calcutta  should  reach  the  commander-in- 
chief.  "  I  should  undoubtedly  have  been  murdered  at 
some  station  on  the  road/'  he  afterwards  said.  "  The 
answer  never  came.  It  must  have  been  between  Calcutta 
and  Aligarh  when  disturbances  broke  out,  and  was,  with 
all  the  daks  for  many  days,  destroyed  or  plundered." 

Hodson's  opportunity  had  come  at  last :  how  gloriously 
he  rose  to  it  the  reader  will  learn  in  the  following  chapters. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   GREAT   MUTINY — FIRST  WEEKS   OF   THE   SIEGE 
OF  DELHI.      MAY-JUNE 

AMONG  Hodson's  staunchest  friends  at  this  period  was 
the  Rev.  C.  Sloggett,  chaplain  of  Dagshai.  As  early  as 
April,  1857,  Hodson  had  laid  before  the  rev.  chaplain  a 
written  statement  of  his  case  which  embodied  Reynell 
Taylor's  report.  Mr.  Sloggett  was  so  greatly  impressed 
by  the  force  and  clearness  of  this  document  that  he  offered 
to  show  it  to  his  "  dear  friend  Colonel  Chester/'  with 
whom  he  was  going  to  spend  a  few  days  at  Simla. 

"  He  kindly  looked  over  it/'  says  Mr.  Sloggett,  "  at  my 
earnest  request,  and  while  doing  this  the  judge  advocate- 
general,  Colonel  Keith  Young,  came  into  the  room  and 
took  part  in  our  conversation.  He  too,  like  the  many 
men  who  have  made  the  reputation  and  greatness  of  our 
Indian  Government,  was  possessed  of  the  highest  honour 
and  integrity,  and  at  first  he  spoke  to  me  with  scorn 
respecting  the  case.  The  whole  matter,  he  said,  had 
passed  under  his  own  review  ere  it  had  been  submitted 
to  Government,  and  the  verdict  of  the  court  was  amply 
justified  by  the  evidence  produced.  But  here  Colonel 
Chester  interposed  by  telling  him  of  this  new  light  thrown 
upon  it,  and  I  left  them  to  go  through  it  together.  When 
they  had  done  so  they  were  evidently  much  impressed  by 
it.  Colonel  Chester  promised  to  show  it  at  once  to  the 
commander-in-chief,  General  Anson,  and  Keith  Young 
thanked  me  very  warmly  for  bringing  it  under  his  notice. 
From  that  time  Keith  Young  became  one  of  Hodson's 
warmest  friends,  and  General  Anson  was  prevailed  on  by 
both  of  them  to  give  him  another  appointment.  Then, 
of  course,  the  idea  only  was  that  he  should  write  on  the 
matter  to  Lord  Canning,  which  I  believe  he  did;  but  the 
letter  was  lost  in  transmission  through  the  sudden  out- 
break of  the  rebellion. 

143 


144  Major  W.  Hodson 

"  It  was,  I  think,  just  a  week  after  I  spoke  to  them 
that  the  Mutiny  broke  out  at  Meerut,  and  for  months 
afterwards  there  was  no  direct  postal  communication 
with  Calcutta.  General  Anson,  therefore,  gave  Hodson 
a  staff  appointment  on  his  own  responsibility,  and  he 
soon  justified  the  selection,  for  it  is  doubtful  if  there  was 
another  man  in  the  whole  army  who  could  have  supplied 
his  place."1 

The  hour,  indeed,  was  drawing  very  near  when  every 
Englishman  from  Peshawar  to  Calcutta  would  learn  with 
incredulous  surprise  the  first  tidings  of  a  successful  sepoy 
rising  in  one  of  the  most  important  stations  of  Upper 
India.  When  news  of  the  murderous  outbreak  at  Meerut, 
on  May  10,  was  first  flashed  up  and  down  the  telegraph 
wires,  it  seemed  hardly  credible  that  such  a  thing  could 
have  happened  in  a  cantonment  guarded  by  two  strong 
European  regiments  and  several  batteries  of  artillery. 
But  worse  still  was  to  come,  for  on  May  n,  the  mutineers 
from  Meerut  had  entered  the  imperial  city  of  Delhi.  In 
a  few  hours  all  Delhi  was  up  against  our  helpless  country- 
men, who  little  dreamed  that  not  a  hand  from  Meerut 
would  be  stretched  forth  to  succour  them.  English  men, 
women,  and  children  were  cruelly  butchered  within  the 
palace  itself,  within  sight  or  hearing  of  the  old  king,  who 
owed  to  our  forbearance  all  the  dignities  and  comforts 
he  still  enjoyed.  Before  sunset  all  Delhi  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  mutineers. 

Soon  after  nightfall  of  that  sorrowful  Monday,  the 
weary  watchers  by  the  Flagstaff  Tower,  on  a  rocky  ridge 
that  ran  between  the  city  and  the  cantonments,  set  out 
in  scattered  parties,  by  carriage,  on  horseback,  or  on 
foot,  along  any  road  that  might  lead  them  far  away  from 
the  sight  of  their  blazing  bungalows  and  the  yells  of 
ruffians  thirsting  for  more  Farangi  blood. 

As  soon  as  the  tidings  of  this  twofold  tragedy  reached 
Simla,  the  commander-in-chief  issued  orders  for  the 
prompt  despatch  of  the  white  troops  that  garrisoned  the 
hill-stations  of  Kussowlie,  Dagshai,  and  Sabathu.  Hodson 
marched  with  his  regiment  down  to  Umbala,  where  Anson 
himself  arrived  on  May  15,  in  order  to  collect  a  force 
1  Mr.  Sloggett's  Letter  to  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Hodson,  1882. 


The  Great  Mutiny  145 

strong  enough  to  act  promptly  against  the  mutineers. 
In  that  moment  of  supreme  danger  William  Hodson  came 
once  more  to  the  front.  On  the  i6th,  Anson  made  him 
assistant  quartermaster-general  to  the  force  which  he 
himself  was  preparing  to  lead  to  Delhi.  He  empowered 
Hodson  to  raise  1000  irregular  horse,  placed  him  at  the 
head  of  the  Intelligence  Department,  and  sent  him  on  to 
Karnal  for  the  purpose  of  restoring  communications 
between  that  place  and  Meerut. 

In  addition  to  this  latter  task,  Hodson  was  intrusted 
with  special  despatches  from  General  Anson  to  the  officer 
commanding  at  Meerut,  of  whose  movements  nothing 
had  been  heard  since  the  outbreak  of  May  10. 

After  arranging  matters  at  Karnal,  he  started  for 
Meerut  on  May  20,  at  the  head  of  a  troop  of  Sikh  horse 
supplied  by  the  loyal  Rajah  of  Jhind.  Seventy -two 
hours  later  he  was  back  again  in  Karnal  telegraphing  to 
his  chief  that  "  I  had  forced  my  way  to  Meerut,  and 
obtained  all  the  papers  he  wanted  from  the  general  there. 
These  I  gave  him  four  hours  later  in  Umbala.  The  pace 
pleased  him,  I  fancy,  for  he  ordered  me  to  raise  a  corps 
of  irregular  horse,  and  appointed  me  commandant."1 

What  others  thought  of  this  daring  ride  may  be 
gathered  from  the  following  letter,  written  by  an  officer 
in  the  Meerut  garrison:  "When  the  Mutiny  broke  out 
our  communications  were  completely  cut  off.  One  night, 
on  outlying  picket  at  Meerut,  this  subject  being  dis- 
cussed, I  said,  '  Hodson  is  at  Umbala,  I  know ;  and  I'll 
bet  he  will  force  his  way  through,  and  open  communica- 
tions with  the  commander-in-chief  and  ourselves.'  At 
about  three  that  morning  I  heard  my  advanced  sentries 
firing.  I  rode  off  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  and  they 
told  me  that  a  part  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  had  approached 
their  post.  When  day  broke  in  galloped  Hodson.  He 
had  left  Karnal  (seventy-six  miles  off)  at  nine  the  night 
before  with  one  led  horse  and  an  escort  of  Sikh  cavalry, 
and,  as  I  had  anticipated,  here  he  was  with  despatches 
for  Wilson!  How  I  quizzed  him  for  approaching  an 
armed  post  at  night  without  knowing  the  parole !  Hodson 
rode  straight  to  Wilson,  had  his  interview,  a  bath,  break- 
1  Letter  to  Colonel  Douglas  Seaton. 

K 


146  Major  W.  Hodson 

fast,  and  two  hours'  sleep,  and  then  rode  back  the  seventy- 
six  miles,  and  had  to  fight  his  way  for  about  thirty  miles 
of  the  distance." 

Another  officer,  writing  to  his  wife,  spoke  of  Hodson's 
feat  as  more  resembling  "  a  chapter  from  the  life  of 
Bayard  or  Amadis  de  Gaul  than  the  doings  of  a  subaltern 
of  the  nineteenth  century." 

It  was  at  Karnal  that  Hodson  met  again  his  young 
friend  Charles  Thomason  of  the  Bengal  Engineers,  who 
owed  to  Hodson's  exertions  his  own  timely  escape  from 
death  at  the  hands  of  roving  sepoy  mutineers. 

"  I  shall  not  easily  forget  our  meeting,"  writes  General 
Thomason.  "  We  both  felt  we  had  much  to  say  to  each 
other.  He  evidently  knew  my  story,  and  after  his  long 
ride  and  many  hours'  fighting  he  was  not  one  I  felt  myself 
justified  in  inviting  to  a  conversation.  We  had  had  no 
news  as  to  what  had  occurred  at  Meerut  on  May  10,  when 
the  Mutiny  broke  out,  and  the  anxiety  of  all  those  present 
can  well  be  imagined.  Poor  Hodson  was  absolutely 
stormed  with  questions.  '  Do  let  me  have  something 
to  eat  first,'  was  what  he  said;  '  I  absolutely  refuse  to 
answer  any  questions  till  I  have  had  something.'  He 
then  vanished  for  his  wash  and  brush  up. 

"  Meanwhile  all  were  interested  in  his  repast,  which 
was  ready  for  him  when  he  reappeared.  Not  a  word  did 
he  say  when  he  sat  down  with  myself  at  his  right  hand, 
nor  did  there  pass  between  us  anything  beyond  a  sign 
of  kindly  recognition  to  myself  until  he  had  completed  his 
meal.  The  surrounding  company  eyed  him  all  this  time 
with,  we  may  say,  awestruck  countenances.  This  silence 
was  uninterrupted  until  suddenly  he  put  down  his  knife 
and  fork  and  said, '  Now  I  am  ready  for  you.'  And  then 
followed  the  awful  recital  of  what  had  occurred  at  Meerut 
on  the  evening  of  May  10,  told  as  only  Hodson  could  tell 
it.  There  we  sat  round  him  with  open  eyes  until  he  had 
finished,  when  some  one  said  in  an  inquiring  tone, '  Well  ?  ' 
as  if  he  had  not  already  heard  enough.  '  Well,'  replied 
Hodson,  '  here  we  are;  the  wires  cut  north,  south,  east, 
and  west;  not  a  soul  can  interfere  with  us,  we  have  the 
cracking  of  the  nut  in  our  own  way,  and  here  we  are  as 
'  jolly  as  a  bug  in  a  rug ! '  This  was  William  Hodson  all 


The  Great  Mutiny  147 

over.  He  could  not  be  cheery  over  the  Meerut  recital, 
but  the  thought  that  the  reversal  of  that  terrible  catas- 
trophe lay  with  the  small  band  then  surrounding  him, 
untrammelled  with  official  routine,  was  too  much  for  his 
soldier  spirit,  and  found  vent  in  the  above  expression. 

"  How  he  did  his  part  history  will  tell.  He  was  the 
life  and  soul  of  the  whole  force  then  marching  down  to 
Delhi.  As  a  scout,  if  he  has  ever  been  equalled,  he  has 
never  been  beaten.  The  Delhi  force  knew  well  what  a 
debt  they  owed  to  him. 

"  I  may  here  remark  that  I  have  entered  more  into 
detail  as  regards  my  own  arrival  into  Karnal  solely  with 
a  view  to  showing  what  tools  Hodson  had  to  deal  with. 
To  judge  from  the  writings  of  some,  one  would  think  that 
he  had  had  at  his  beck  and  command  the  metropolitan 
police  and  the  Irish  constabulary.  No  one  knew  better 
their  failings  than  did  William  Hodson,  and  there  is  no 
greater  marvel  in  British  history  than  the  results  which 
he  attained  with  such  tools." 

What  sort  of  tools  Hodson  had  to  work  with  may  be 
seen  from  Thomason's  own  account  of  his  arrival  at 
Karnal.  The  23rd  of  May  found  Thomason's  little  party 
of  fugitives  at  the  village  of  Naolanah,  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  canal,  about  twenty  miles  from  Karnal. 

"  In  the  morning,"  writes  General  Thomason,  "  some 
four  sowars  rode  into  the  village.  .  .  .  After  some  parley 
one  of  the  sowars  handed  me  a  letter  addressed  to  myself, 
but  the  handwriting  of  it  was  unknown  to  me.  So  open- 
ing it  I  found  it  beginning,  '  My  dear  Charlie,'  which 
naturally  excited  my  curiosity  a  good  deal,  until  I  found 
at  the  end  '  yours  affectionately,  W.  S.  R.  Hodson.'  .  .  . 

"  It  was  to  this  effect:  '  I  have  heard  of  you,  and  wish 
I  knew  where  to  catch  you;  but  I  have  my  hands  full, 
and  am  here,  there,  and  everywhere,  and  cannot  tell 
where  I  may  be  to-morrow;  but  on  receipt  of  this  don't 
delay  a  moment,  but  push  on  at  once  to  Karnal,  where 
the  "  gathering  "  is  to  be.  You  had  better  put  yourself 
in  the  hands  of  the  men  by  whom  I  am  sending  this. 
Promise  anything  you  like,  and  the  chief  will  see  you 
through  with  it,  but  don't  delay.  I  have  done  the  best 
I  can  for  you,  and  wish  it  could  be  more.' 


148  Major  W.  Hodson 

"  I  read  the  letter  and  looked  at  the  men,  and  I  confess 
that  an  inspection  of  their  faces  did  not  reassure  me.  I 
suppose  they  were  emissaries  of  the  Intelligence  Depart- 
ment, and  perhaps  constituted  a  part  of  the  nucleus  of 
the  then  future  famous  '  Hodson's  Horse.'  However, 
evidently  they  believed  in  W.  S.  R.  Hodson,  and  so  did 
I,  and  so  off  we  started  for  Karnal.  Arrived  at  the  canal 
Choki  of  Phurlak,  twelve  miles  from  Karnal,  we  came  to 
grief  with  an  accident.  I  need  not  enter  into  the  details 
of  this  mishap,  because  I  am  writing  of  Hodson  and  not 
of  myself.  Suffice  it  to  say,  it  resulted  in  Mrs.  Tronson 
breaking  a  collar  and  some  rib  bones,  and  I  remained 
behind  as  a  rearguard  to  take  her  into  Karnal.  With  me, 
much  against  my  inclination,  remained  Hodson's  men. 
In  justice  to  them,  I  must  say  that  I  should  have  fared 
badly  without  them;  but  in  justice  also  to  myself,  and 
to  show  that  my  judgment  was  not  altogether  at  fault, 
I  must  mention  that  Isa  Khan,  whose  camel  I  rode  with 
him  behind  me,  was  afterwards  wounded  fighting  against 
us  at  Delhi.  He  was  taken  wounded,  tried,  and  hanged. 
I  need  not  say  more  about  the  adventures  of  this  night 
than  that  they  fully  justified  my  suspicions  as  to  my 
companions.  However,  all's  well  that  ends  well;  and, 
marvellous  to  relate,  we  arrived  alive  at  Karnal  at  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  I  was  glad  to  hand  over 
Mrs.  Tronson  to  Dr.  Balfour,  and  I  lay  down  to  sleep 
with  my  boots  as  my  pillow  on  a  floor  of  a  room  in  Mr. 
Le  Bas'  house,  where,  what  with  refugees  and  others, 
it  was  not  easy  to  find  accommodation  for  my  full 
length. 

"  On  awaking  next  morning  I  learned  that  Hodson 
was  not  there,  he  having  gone  to  open  communication 
with  Meerut,  seventy-five  miles  off.  ...  I  think  it  was 
the  next  day  that  he  returned  to  Karnal."  x 

After  reporting  to  Anson  at  Umbala  the  result  of  his 
mission  to  Meerut,  Hodson  returned  to  Karnal  "  fairly 
dead  beat,"  on  the  morning  of  the  25th.  On  the  same 
day  Anson  himself  arrived  at  Karnal.  His  little  force  at 
that  time  consisted  of  two  brigades,  while  a  third  brigade, 
under  Colonel  Archdale  Wilson,  had  been  ordered  from 
1  MS.  Reminiscences  by  General  Thomason. 


The  Great  Mutiny  149 

Meerut  to  join  him  at  Bhagpat.  On  the  very  next  day 
General  Anson  was  attacked  with  cholera,  which  carried 
him  off  before  daybreak  on  the  morning  of  May  27.  With 
his  last  breath  he  made  over  the  command  to  Major- 
General  Sir  Henry  Barnard,  who  had  only  just  arrived 
from  Umbala. 

Meanwhile  Hodson  had  already  begun,  with  the  help 
of  a  few  good  friends,  to  enlist  recruits  for  the  new 
regiment  of  irregular  horse  which  he  himself  had  been 
selected  to  command.  "  I  am  to  raise,"  he  writes,  "  as 
many  men  as  I  please — 2000  if  I  can  get  them.  The 
worst  of  it  is,  the  being  in  a  part  of  the  country  I  do 
not  know,  and  the  necessity  of  finding  men  who  can  be 
trusted.  Mr.  Montgomery  is  aiding  me  wonderfully. 
He  called  upon  some  of  my  old  friends  among  the  sirdars 
to  raise  men  for  me.  Shamsher  Singh  is  raising  one 
troop;  Tej  Singh  ditto;  Imam-ud-din  ditto;  Mr.  Mont- 
gomery himself  one  or  two  ditto.  All  these  will  be  ready 
in  about  three  weeks.  Kanh  Singh  Rosah,  my  old 
friend  who  commanded  the  Sikh  cavalry  at  Chilianwala, 
will  be  here  in  a  day  or  two.  I  have  asked  to  remain 
assistant  quartermaster-general  attached  to  the  com- 
mander-in-chief.  This  allows  me  free  access  to  him  at 
any  time,  and  to  other  people  in  authority,  which  gives 
me  power  for  good.  The  Intelligence  Department  is  in 
my  line,  and  I  have  for  this  Sir  Henry's  old  friend,  the 
one-eyed  maulvi,  Rajab  Ali,  so  I  shall  get  the  best  news 
in  the  country.  Montgomery  has  come  out  very,  very 
strong  indeed,  and  behaved  admirably.  The  native 
regiments  at  Peshawar  have  been  disarmed.  As  yet  the 
Punjab  is  quiet  and  the  Irregulars  true.  The  Guides  are 
coming  down  here  by  forced  marches." 

In  the  midst  of  more  pressing  matters,  Mr.  George 
Ricketts,  as  the  following  letter  will  show,  was  to  prove 
a  friend  in  need  to  the  future  commandant  of  Hodson's 
Horse:  "Hodson  asked  me  to  get  him  as  many  good 
men  as  I  could, — a  squadron,  if  possible, — and  if  possible 
with  their  own  horses  under  them,  or  with  sufficient 
money  in  their  pockets  to  buy  them;  but  on  this  point, 
horse  or  money,  he  was  not  very  particular,  for,  as  he 
said,  he  could  always  pick  up  the  horses.  It  was  a 


150  Major  W.  Hodson 

curious  business :  there  were  the  old  Sikh  ghorcharhas 1 
everywhere,  and  old  artillerymen,  too.  They  were  look- 
ing every  way,  certain  that  sooner  or  later  they  would 
take  a  hand  one  side  or  the  other,  and  were  just  biding 
their  time,  and  it  was  hard  to  get  a  beginning.  .  .  .  After 
the  first  start  the  men  began  to  come  in,  and  I  had  a 
pretty  good  number  to  select  from ;  and  the  test  of  their 
riding  capabilities  was  to  ride  my  grey  mare,  a  country- 
bred,  from  my  house  verandah  to  the  compound  gate 
and  back.  She  was  a  jungli  [untamed],  14.3,  and  used 
to  stand  like  a  sheep  until  she  was  mounted  bare-backed 
and  then  the  fun  used  to  begin.  She  used  to  fly  right 
and  left,  and  bound  in  the  air,  and  lumbai  [plunge]  all 
down  the  road,  and  get  almost  all  of  them  off  sooner  or 
later;  and  we  soon  found  out  those  who  had  ridden  before, 
and  no  others  were  accepted."  2 

The  men  thus  enlisted  were  sent  down  in  batches  to 
the  camp  before  Delhi,  where  Hodson,  with  the  help  of  a 
few  subalterns  worthy  of  their  dashing  leader,  speedily 
drilled  them  into  serviceable  form. 

In  Sir  Henry  Barnard,  "  a  fine  gentlemanly  old  man, 
but  hardly  up  to  his  work,"  Hodson  gained  a  warm  friend 
always  ready  to  further  his  own  efforts  for  the  public 
good.  Another  of  his  friends,  Colonel  (afterwards  Sir 
Thomas)  Seaton,  marched  into  Paniput  on  the  night  of 
May  27  at  the  head  of  his  regiment,  the  6oth  Native 
Infantry,  whose  loyalty  was  even  then  deemed  more  than 
doubtful.  "  I  don't  envy  him,"  writes  Hodson,  "  his 
new  command ;  but  he  is  a  good  man  and  a  brave  soldier, 
and  if  any  man  can  get  them  over  the  mess,  he  will  do  it." 

The  two  men  had  met  for  the  first  time  the  year  before 
at  Dagshai,  where  Seaton  was  spending  a  few  weeks  with 
his  brother  Douglas  of  the  ist  Fusiliers.  "  During  this 
visit,"  he  writes,  "  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  make  the 
acquaintance  of  that  true  and  gallant  soldier,  Major  (then 
Lieutenant)  W.  S.  R.  Hodson.  I  was  much  struck  with 
his  appearance, — his  broad,  handsome,  manly  brow;  his 
clear,  bright,  and  keen  eye ;  his  light,  active,  wiry  frame ; 
his  pleasing  smile;  his  frank  and  cordial  manner, — little 

1  Horse  Guards  of  the  old  Sikh  rule. 
*  Letter  quoted  in  Blackwood'x  Magazine,  March  1899. 


The  Great  Mutiny  151 

dreaming  under  what  terrible  circumstances  our  acquaint- 
ance would  ripen  into  friendship." l 

Some  days  had  yet  to  pass  before  Barnard's  little  force 
could  begin  its  final  move  against  Delhi.  Meanwhile 
Hodson  was  working  away  with  his  wonted  energy  at  the 
various  duties  which  had  been  intrusted  to  him.  On 
May  28,  he  "  travelled  eighty  miles,  besides  heaps  of 
business.  I  am  tired,  I  confess,  for  the  heat  is  awful. 
The  treasuries  are  empty,  and  no  drafts  are  to  be  cashed, 
so  how  we  are  to  get  money  I  cannot  imagine.  I  ought 
to  have  Rs.  1000  a-month  as  commandant,  and  we  ought 
to  save  half  towards  paying  our  debts." 

On  the  3oth,  Hodson  had  reached  Sumalka  in  company 
with  the  gth  Lancers,  Money's  troop  of  Horse  Artillery, 
and  the  ist  Fusiliers.  "  This  regiment,"  he  writes,  "  is 
a  credit  to  any  army,  and  the  fellows  are  in  as  high  spirits 
and  heart,  and  as  plucky  and  free  from  croaking  as 
possible,  and  really  do  good  to  the  whole  force." 

On  the  last  day  of  May  the  troops  above  mentioned 
were  encamped  at  Larsauli,  one  march  nearer  Delhi. 
Here  Brigadier  Halifax  became  so  ill  that  Hodson  had 
to  place  him  in  his  own  shigram  (a  travelling  cart)  and 
see  him  off  towards  Umbala.  A  few  hours  later  he  was 
lying  dead  at  Karnal.  His  death  seemed  to  Hodson  only 
the  prelude  to  many  more  incidents  of  a  like  nature. 
"  Before  this  business  ends,  we  who  are,  thank  God, 
still  young  and  strong  shall  alone  be  left  in  camp.  All 
the  elderly  gentlemen  will  sink  under  the  fatigue  and 
exposure." 

Even  in  those  early  days  of  the  great  sepoy  Mutiny 
the  name  of  Barnard's  chief  Intelligence  officer  was 
already  becoming  a  tower  of  strength  to  our  anxious 
countrymen  in  Upper  India.  "  Would  that  we  had  more 
like  him,  and  some  others  I  could  name,"  says  a  corre- 
spondent of  the  Lahore  Chronicle  for  June  i,  1857.  "  Men 
who  can  be  in  the  saddle  fifteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty- 
four  at  this  time  of  the  year  form  a  glorious  contrast 
to  those  who,  I  hear,  are  still  skulking  in  safety  at  Simla 
and  elsewhere  in  the  hills." 

1  From  Cadet  to  Colonel.  By  Major-General  Sir  T.  Seaton,  K.C.B. 
Routledge. 


152  Major  W.  Hodson 

It  was  still  fondly  hoped  that  the  little  force  which  on 
the  first  days  of  June  was  assembling  at  Rai  would  soon 
make  short  work  of  the  mutineers  in  Delhi.  "  The 
Meerut  folks,"  writes  Hodson  on  June  2,  "  have  had 
another  fight  with  the  Delhi  mutineers,  and  again  beaten 
them;  but  this  constant  exposure  is  very  trying  to 
Europeans.  I  wish  we  were  moving  nearer  Delhi  more 
rapidly,  as  all  now  depends  on  our  quickly  disposing  of 
this  mighty  sore.  I  wish  from  my  heart  we  had  Sir 
Henry  Lawrence  here — he  is  the  man  for  the  crisis.  We 
are  all  in  high  spirits;  only  eager  to  get  at  the  villains 
who  have  committed  atrocities  which  make  the  blood 
run  cold  but  to  think  of.  I  trust  the  retribution  will  be 
short,  sharp,  and  decisive." 

By  June  3,  Barnard's  headquarters  joined  the  camp  at 
Rai,  about  twenty  miles  from  Delhi.  On  the  6th,  the 
siege-train,  which  had  narrowly  escaped  seizure  on  its 
march  from  Philor,  and  had  been  well  nigh  stopped  by  a 
swollen  river,  came  up  with  the  main  body,  then  halted 
at  Alipur,  a  march  beyond  Rai.  Next  morning  Sir  Henry's 
little  force  was  strengthened  by  the  column  with  which 
Brigadier  Wilson  had  successfully  fought  his  way  from 
Meerut.  By  that  time  the  troops  assembled  under  Sir 
H.  Barnard  numbered  about  4000  men,  nearly  all  British, 
and  all  trustworthy. 

Hodson  learned  that  some  2000  of  the  rebels  had  come 
out  of  Delhi  "  and  put  themselves  in  position  to  bar  our 
road.  ...  I  think  I  am  more  than  appreciated  by  the 
headquarters'  people.  I  had  barely  finished  the  word 
when  I  was  sent  for  by  the  general,  and  had  a  pretty 
strong  proof  of  the  estimation  I  am  held  in.  He  had  been 
urged  to  one  particular  point  of  attack,  and  when  I  went 
into  the  tent  he  immediately  turned  to  the  assembled 
council  and  said,  '  I  have  always  trusted  to  Hodson's 
intelligence,  and  have  the  greatest  confidence  in  his  judg- 
ment. I  will  be  guided  by  what  he  can  tell  me  now.' 
So  the  croakers,  who  had  been  groaning,  were  discomfited. 
This  is,  of  course,  for  your  own  eye  and  ear  alone,  but  it 
is  pleasant,  as  the  general  has  only  known  me  since  he 
has  now  joined  the  force." 

This,  like  all  his  letters  of  this  period,  was  written  to 


The  Great  Mutiny  153 

his  wife,  with  whom  he  corresponded  daily.  These  letters, 
says  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Hodson,  were  "  written  as  best  they 
might,  in  any  moments  which  he  could  snatch  from  the 
overwhelming  press  of  work,  sometimes  on  the  field, 
sometimes  on  horseback."  They  were  meant  for  no 
other  eyes  than  hers,  nor  would  they  ever  have  been 
published,  adds  Mr.  Hodson,  "  had  my  lamented  brother 
been  alive,  as  he  had  the  greatest  horror  of  any  of  his 
letters  appearing  in  print."1 

At  sunrise  of  June  8,  our  little  force  moved  out  from 
Alipur  to  attack  several  thousand  rebels  strongly  posted 
about  Badli  Serai.  A  sharp  fight  ensued ;  the  serai  itself 
and  a  battery  of  six  guns  were  carried  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet,  and  Hope  Grant's  cavalry  completed  the 
rout.  That  afternoon  the  victors  encamped  along  the 
ridge  overlooking  the  tall  red  towers  and  long  walls  of 
the  Mughal  capital.  "  Here  we  are  safe  and  sound," 
writes  Hodson,  "  after  having  driven  the  enemy  out  of 
their  position  in  the  cantonments  up  to  and  into  the  walls 
of  Delhi.  I  write  a  line  in  pencil  on  the  top  of  a  drum 
to  say  that  I  am  mercifully  untouched,  and  none  the 
worse  for  a  very  hard  morning's  work.  Our  loss  has  been 
considerable,  the  rebels  having  been  driven  from  their 
guns  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Poor  Colonel  Chester 
killed  at  the  first  fire !  Alfred  Light  (who  won  the  admira- 
tion of  all)  wounded,  but  not  severely.  No  one  else  of 
the  staff  party  killed  or  wounded ;  but  our  general  returns 
will,  I  fear,  tell  a  sad  tale.  Greville  slightly  hurt.  The 
enemy's  guns  captured,  and  their  dispersion  and  rout 
very  complete." 

Of  Hodson's  own  share  in  that  morning's  work 
General  Thomason  has  furnished  some  characteristic 
details : — 

"  The  general  plan  of  attack  was  that  the  advance 
column  under  Sir  Hope  Grant  was  to  cross  the  canal  by 
one  of  the  numerous  bridges,  and  following  along  the 
right  bank  of  the  canal  to  recross  at  another  bridge, 
taking  the  enemy  on  his  left  flank.  The  main  body  in 
the  meantime  was  to  make  a  frontal  attack. 

1  Hodson  of  Hod-son's  Horse. 


154  Major  W.  Hodson 

"  As  the  canal  officer  best  knowing  the  district/  I  was 
told  off  to  accompany  and  guide  Sir  Hope  Grant.  I  did 
not  quite  know  what  position  the  enemy  had  taken  up. 
I  knew  that  Hodson  had  been  reconnoitring  in  this 
direction,  so  I  went  to  him  for  information.  What  he 
told  me  seemed  to  place  the  enemy's  position  nearer  the 
Ochterlony  Gardens  than  it  turned  out  to  be,  and  the 
result  was  as  follows:  I  led  Sir  Hope  Grant  past  the 
bridge  by  which  we  should  have  recrossed  the  canal  to 
take  the  enemy  fairly  on  his  left  flank.  We  had  so  far 
been  completely  successful  in  our  turning  movement. 
We  were,  however,  brought  up  by  a  watercourse  in 
which  our  guns  seemed  to  be  hopelessly  stuck,  when  the 
report  of  the  first  gun  of  Badli  Serai  battle  broke  the 
silence  immediately  upon  the  left.  It  might  have  been 
the  morning  gun,  but  for  the  unmistakable  scream  of 
the  round-shot  directed  against  our  main  column  advanc- 
ing along  the  Grand  Trunk  Road.  Then  came  another 
shot,  which,  alas!  killed  two  friends  of  mine,  Colonel 
Chester,  adjutant-general,  and  Captain  Russell,  54th 
Native  Infantry,  which  had  mutinied  at  Delhi.  The 
few  sappers  that  we  had  with  us  were  struggling  to  get 
the  guns  across  the  watercourse,  but  the  sound  of  the 
guns  did  more  than  even  our  sappers,  hard  though  they 
were  working.  '  Horse  Artillery  to  the  front ! '  was  the 
word  of  command,  and  over  the  guns  went.  It  was  at 
this  time  that  I  found  Hodson  at  my  right,  followed  by 
the  gth  Lancers,  who  were  escorting  the  guns.  '  Come 
along,  Charlie,  the  fun  has  begun ! '  Away  we  started, 
he  on  a  beautiful  chestnut  and  I  upon  a  poor  old  artillery 
caster.  We  rattled  along  the  right  bank  of  the  canal  till 
we  came  to  the  first  bridge,  when  Hodson  said  to  me, 
'  Will  that  bridge  carry  the  guns  ?  '  '  Can't  say,'  was  my 
reply, '  and  I  have  no  time  to  calculate,'  and  so  we  crossed 
and  found  ourselves  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy's  position. 
We  now  had  to  go  back  on  the  left  of  the  canal,  giving 
it  a  wide  margin  in  order  to  get  into  action.  To  do  so 
we  had  to  overcome  the  obstruction  of  more  than  one 
watercourse.  We  seemed  again  hopelessly  stuck  in  cross- 

1  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Mutiny  he  was  acting  as  deputy- superin- 
tendent of  the  Western  Jumna  Canal. 


The  Great  Mutiny  155 

ing  one  of  these — the  battery,  or  rather  the  troop,  as  we 
called  it  in  those  days,  of  Turner's  Horse  Artillery  con- 
sisting of  three  6-pounders  and  three  g-pounders,  the 
latter  being  apparently  immovable. 

Geneste  of  our  corps  came  up  at  this  crisis,  and  being 
well  mounted,  shouted  to  the  gunners,  '  Come  along ! ' 
and  took  the  watercourse  at  a  jump,  and  after  him  went 
one  gun.  Seeing  the  success  of  Geneste's  manoeuvre,  I 
thought  I  would  try  my  old  artillery  caster,  and  over  he 
went  with  another  gun  behind  him.  I  believe  somebody 
else  brought  over  a  third  gun  in  the  same  way,  but  who 
it  was  I  cannot  say,  but  within  a  few  minutes  we  found 
ourselves  just  under  the  serai  with  all  three  of  the  6- 
pounders.  A  pretty  warm  berth  it  was,  but  it  beautifully 
enfiladed  the  whole  of  the  enemy's  position  in  their  rear. 
There  we  remained  for  some  time  firing  our  best,  with 
the  Lancers  supporting  the  guns,  when  up  rode  Hodson 
by  himself.  Within  two  or  three  hundred  yards  of  us 
was  a  body  of  the  enemy's  cavalry,  and  what  Hodson 
was  dying  to  do  was  to  lead  the  Lancers  against  them. 
No  one  was  more  anxious  to  do  so  than  the  officer  com- 
manding the  Lancers,  but  his  orders  were  imperative  te- 
sticle by  the  guns,  and  Hodson,  disappointed  in  this, 
started  off  towards  the  canal. 

"  He  had  gone  a  very  short  distance  from  us  when  he 
found  himself  confronted  by  one  of  the  enemy  with  a 
shield  and  tulwar.  I  shall  never  forget  Hodson's  face  as 
he  met  this  man.  It  was  smiles  all  over.  He  went 
round  and  round  the  man,  who  in  the  centre  of  the  circle 
was  dancing  more  Indico,  doing  his  best  to  cut  Hodson's 
reins.  This  went  on  for  a  short  time,  when  a  neat  point 
from  Hodson  put  an  end  to  the  performance,  and  he 
himself  vanished  into  space. 

"  I  did  not  see  him  again  until  about  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  when  we  had  occupied  the  ridge,  and  I 
met  him  coming  along  from  the  direction  of  the  Sabzi 
Mandi.  He  was  a  picture,  and  told  me  he  had  had  real 
sport,  and,  looking  towards  the  Jumna  bridge,  he  said, 
'  Oh,  for  another  Sobraon ! ' 

"  He  asked  me  how  I  had  been  getting  on,  and  I  told 
him  fairly  well,  but  I  was  very  empty, — we  had  left  camp 


156  Major  W.  Hodson 

at  i  A.M., — whereupon  he  produced  from  his  holsters  a 
biscuit  and  gave  it  to  me.  It  was  hard  eating,  for  I  was 
thirsty  as  well  as  hungry,  and  had  to  go  all  the  way  to 
the  Najafgarh  Jhil  drain  to  get  a  drink,  and,  by  the  way, 
nearly  lost  my  life  at  the  hands  of  the  Pandies  whilst 
doing  so." 

In  the  shelter  of  that  historic  ridge  our  troops  were  to 
lie  week  after  week,  like  a  forlorn-hope,  in  front  of  a  city 
held  by  30,000  rebels — themselves  just  able,  by  dint  of 
heroic  efforts  and  unwearied  watchfulness,  to  hold  their 
ground,  amidst  every  kind  of  danger  and  difficulty, 
against  repeated  onsets  from  a  determined  foe. 

Next  morning  the  Guides  under  Captain  (afterwards 
Sir  Henry)  Daly  arrived  in  Barnard's  camp,  thus  complet- 
ing their  hot-weather  march  of  580  miles  in  twenty-two 
days.  "  It  would  have  done  your  heart  good,"  says 
Hodson,  "  to  see  the  welcome  they  gave  me,  cheering  and 
shouting  and  crowding  round  me  like  frantic  creatures. 
They  seized  my  bridle,  dress,  hands,  and  feet,  and  literally 
threw  themselves  down  before  the  horse  with  the  tears 
streaming  down  their  faces.  Many  officers  who  were 
present  hardly  knew  what  to  make  of  it,  and  thought  the 
creatures  were  mobbing  me;  and  so  they  were,  but  for 
joy,  not  for  mischief.  All  the  staff  were  witnesses  of 
this."  Colonel  Becher,  then  quartermaster-general,  was 
heard  to  declare  that  the  greeting  which  the  Guides  gave 
their  old  commander  was  quite  enough  to  stultify  all  the 
reports  of  his  unpopularity  with  that  corps.  Such  a 
greeting,  indeed,  must  speak  for  itself  to  every  impartial 
reader  of  these  pages. 

Hardly  had  Hodson  finished  his  hurried  scrawl  to  the 
wife  he  left  behind  him  in  the  hills,  when  our  troops  were 
suddenly  called  upon  to  meet  an  attack  from  the  mutineers 
against  some  of  our  outposts  on  the  ridge.  Hodson  him- 
self commanded  the  troops  on  the  British  right.  Support- 
ing the  advance  came  the  gallant  Guides,  who  followed 
their  old  leader  with  a  cheer,  and  "  behaved  with  their 
usual  pluck."  Quintin  Batty e,  who  commanded  the 
Guide  cavalry,  fell  mortally  wounded  while  leading  his 
men,  said  Daly,  "  like  a  hero."  The  whilom  leader  of 
the  Guides  was  much  affected  by  the  warmth  of  the 


The  Great  Mutiny  157 

reception  they  had  now  given  him  twice  in  one  day. 
"  It  has  produced  a  great  sensation  in  camp,  and  had 
a  good  effect  on  our  native  troops,  insomuch  that  they 
are  more  willing  to  obey  their  European  officers  when 
they  see  their  own  countrymen's  enthusiasm." 

On  this  occasion  Hodson  himself  had  a  narrow  escape : 
"  The  sabre  I  thought  such  a  good  one  went  the  first 
blow,  and  the  blade  flew  out  of  the  handle  the  second, 
the  handle  itself  breaking  in  two.  I  had  to  borrow  a 
sword  from  a  Horse  Artilleryman  for  the  remainder  of 
the  day.  The  Jhind  men  with  me  fought  like  excellent 
soldiers.  The  good  general  [Barnard]  came  up  when  it 
was  over  and  shook  hands  with  each  of  them." 

On  the  morning  of  the  nth,  Hodson  aided  in  "  the 
mournful  task  of  carrying  poor  Battye  to  his  grave. 
Poor  fellow!  he  had  quite  won  my  heart  by  his  courage 
and  amiable  qualities,  and  it  is  very,  very  sad  his  early 
death.  It  was  a  noble  one,  however,  and  worthy  of  a 
soldier."  Young  Battye  was  the  first  of  several  brothers 
who  were  destined  to  give  their  lives  to  their  country. 
The  brave  boy  had  died  in  the  night,  with  a  smile  on  his 
lip  and  a  line  from  Horace  on  his  tongue — "  Dulce  et 
decorum  est  pro  patria  mori." 

The  camp  had  just  been  excited  by  the  arrival  of 
Colonel  T.  Seaton  and  the  officers  of  the  6oth  Native 
Infantry.  That  regiment,  in  spite  of  all  Seaton's  efforts, 
had  mutinied  the  day  before  at  Rhotak,  and  their  white 
officers  had  ridden  off  for  their  lives  to  Barnard's  camp, 
saving  nothing  but  the  clothes  they  stood  in.  "  Seaton 
is  with  me,"  writes  Hodson,  "  looking  terribly  worn  and 
harassed,  but  he  says  quite  well  in  health,  though  dis- 
gusted enough." 

Seaton  himself  had  not  even  a  coat  to  his  back  when 
he  made  his  report  to  Sir  Henry  Barnard.  After  break- 
fasting with  his  kindly  old  chief  he  resolved  to  look  up 
some  of  his  acquaintances  who  might  help  him  in  his 
immediate  need.  He  soon  found  the  tent  of  that  noble 
officer,  my  lamented  friend  Hodson.  .  .  .  Fortunately  for 
me,  he  was  within.  On  seeing  me  he  sprang  up,  grasped 
my  hand,  and  cordially  congratulated  me  on  my  escape 
from  the  mutineers,  assuring  me  that  he  had  never 


158  Major  W.  Hodson 

•expected  to  see  me  alive  again,  he  too  having  heard  the 
report  that  I  had  been  killed.  He  invited  me  to  share 
his  little  tent,  and  got  me  a  good  native  charpoy  (bed- 
stead)." l 

On  the  same  day  Hodson  was  requested  to  consult  with 
Greathed,  Chesney,  and  Maunsell  of  the  Bengal  Engineers, 
on  the  likeliest  mode  of  carrying  Delhi  by  a  sudden  assault. 
These  four  officers  drew  up  a  scheme  which  met  with 
Barnard's  entire  approval.  Hodson,  of  course,  was  greatly 
pleased  at  the  compliment  thus  paid  him  by  a  general 
who  recognised  his  worth.  "  Though  I  am  known,"  he 
wrote,  "  to  counsel  vigorous  measures,  it  is  equally  well 
known  I  do  not  urge  others  to  do  what  I  would  not  be 
the  first  to  do  myself.  It  is  a  much  more  serious  business 
than  was  at  first  anticipated.  Delhi  is  a  very  strong 
place,  and  the  vast  resources  which  the  possession  of  our 
arsenal  has  given  the  mutineers  has  made  the  matter  a 
-difficult  one  to  deal  with,  except  by  the  boldest  measures. 
The  city  should  be  carried  by  a  coup-de-main,  and  that 
at  once,  or  we  may  be  many  weeks  before  Delhi,  instead 
of  within  it." 

That  the  plan  was  a  very  bold  one  goes  without  saying, 
and  Hodson  himself  appears  to  have  been  fully  alive  to 
the  tremendous  hazards  involved  in  carrying  it  out.  But 
the  feeling  in  camp  was  strongly  in  favour  of  an  immediate 
assault  before  the  rebels  had  time  to  augment  their 
numbers  and  strengthen  their  defences.  Colonel  Hope 
Grant  assured  Sir  H.  Barnard  that  he  "  thought  his 
determination  a  very  wise  one;  that  every  day  the  rebel 
forces  were  increasing,  and  that  the  longer  we  delayed 
the  smaller  was  our  prospect  of  success."2  "  That  this 
assault  would  have  been  successful,"  says  Sir  T.  Seaton, 
""  there  can  be  no  doubt  whatever,  and  it  can  as  little  be 
doubted  that  the  rebels  would  have  fled  before  us  out  of 
the  city.  But  what  if  they  rallied  or  offered  any  con- 
siderable resistance?  The  utmost  number  of  troops  we 
-could  have  thrown  into  the  city  would  have  been  3000 
men,  who  would  have  been  swallowed  up  in  its  immensity, 

1  From  Cadet  to  Colonel. 
1  Incidents  in  the  Sepoy  War.     Blackwood,  1873. 


The  Great  Mutiny  159 

and  a  check  anywhere  would  have  been  destruction,  for 
we  should  have  had  no  reserves  to  fall  back  on." 

Meanwhile,  about  daybreak  of  June  12,  our  troops  were 
turning  out  to  repel  a  sortie  from  the  rebels  all  along 
their  front.  "  A  sharp  fight  ensued,"  says  Hodson, 
"  which  lasted  some  four  hours.  The  enemy  came  on 
very  boldly,  and  had  got  close  to  us,  under  cover  of  the 
trees  and  gardens,  before  they  were  seen.  However,  the 
troops  turned  out  sharp,  and  drove  them  back  quickly 
from  our  immediate  vicinity:  they  were  then  followed 
up,  and  got  most  heartily  thrashed.  They  have  never 
yet  been  so  punished  as  to-day.  I  estimate  their  loss  in 
killed  alone  at  400,  while  our  loss  was  comparatively 
trifling.  The  Guides  behaved  admirably;  so  did  the 
Fusiliers,  as  usual.  Jacob's  wing  was  the  admiration  of 
all:  one  officer  (Captain  Knox,  75th)  was  killed  and  one 
or  two  wounded.  I  do  not  know  how  many  European 
soldiers ;  but,  on  the  whole,  the  affair  was  a  very  creditable 
one.  I  am  safe  and  sound  still." 

In  the  dark  hours  of  next  morning  our  troops  were 
silently  mustering  for  the  assault,  which  was  to  be  heralded 
by  an  explosion  of  powder-bags  at  two  of  the  city  gates. 
In  another  hour  some  1800  men  might  have  won  their 
way  inside  the  rebel  stronghold ;  but,  by  some  unaccount- 
able mischance,  the  pickets  needed  to  strengthen  the 
advancing  column  had  not  been  withdrawn  by  the  time 
appointed.  Day  was  already  breaking,  and  with  the  wan- 
ing darkness  waned  every  hope  of  a  successful  surprise. 

Hodson,  of  course,  felt  "  much  annoyed  and  dis- 
appointed at  our  plan  not  having  been  carried  out, 
because  I  am  confident  it  would  have  been  successful. 
The  rebels  were  cowed,  and  perfectly  ignorant  of  any 
intention  of  so  bold  a  stroke  on  our  part  as  an  assault: 
the  surprise  would  have  done  everything.  I  am  very 
vexed,  though  the  general  is  most  kind  and  considerate 
in  trying  to  soothe  my  disappointment." 

"  As  a  scout  Hodson's  absolute  contempt  for  anything 
like  danger  or  even  risk,"  says  General  Thomason,  "  was 
simply  unique,  and  of  this  we  had  a  fair  illustration  only 
a  few  days  after  we  had  occupied  our  position  in  front 
of  Delhi.  .  .  .  There  had  been  pretty  heavy  fighting  in 


160  Major  W.  Hodson 

the  Sabzi  Mandi  during  the  morning  of  the  i2th,  and 
when  we  got  our  orders  for  the  attack,  Hodson  proposed 
to  some  six  or  eight  of  us  Engineers  that  we  should  go 
out  and  '  take  a  look  round  '  when  towards  sunset  it 
became  comparatively  cool. 

"  According  to  appointment  we  went,  most  of  us  with- 
out arms  and  many  without  anything  on  our  heads. 
Hodson  led  the  way,  and,  chatting  merrily,  took  us 
straight  into  the  Sabzi  Mandi.  As  we  went  along  the 
narrow  street  many  of  the  enemy,  with  muskets  and 
cross-belts,  put  their  heads  over  parapets  on  the  houses 
right  and  left  and  bobbed  down  again.  Both  Champain, 
who  was  to  be  my  assistant  field  Engineer  in  the  coming 
attack,  and  Salkeld  looked  glum  as  we  advanced  farther 
and  farther,  for  neither  had  brought  arms,  and  the  former 
was  glad  indeed  to  get  one  of  a  brace  of  horse-pistols 
which  constituted  my  armament." 

As  they  approached  the  Mori  Bastion,  Hodson's  atten- 
tion was  drawn  to  an  old  woman  crossing  the  road 
in  front  of  him.  With  the  sweetest  of  smiles  he  began 
questioning  her  about  the  various  roads  in  that  neigh- 
bourhood. At  length  one  of  the  party,  says  General 
Thomason,  "  suggested  to  Hodson  the  place  was  hardly 
well  chosen  for  a  flirtation,  whereupon  we  deliberately 
returned  to  camp  by  the  same  road,  and  not  a  shot  was 
fired  at  us  the  whole  evening.  .  .  .  Salkeld,  who  won  his 
V.C.  and  lost  his  life  at  the  Kashmir  gate's  final  assault, 
told  me  that  he  regarded  this  reconnoitring  trip  as  the 
maddest  one  he  had  ever  made,  but  I  am  quite  sure 
Hodson  looked  upon  it  as  a  most  ordinary  event." 

By  this  time,  indeed,  it  was  becoming  daily  clearer 
that  not  half-a-dozen  regiments  only,  but  the  whole  of 
the  great  sepoy  army  of  Bengal,  had  been  fired  with  the 
mutinous  spirit  provoked  by  the  new  musketry  drill, 
which  ordained  the  biting  of  cartridges  greased  with  the 
fat  of  cows  and  swine.  In  spite  of  later  attempts  to 
repair  the  original  mistake,  nothing  could  persuade  the 
bulk  of  our  native  soldiers  that  the  British  Government 
had  not  been  plotting  to  make  Christians  of  them  all  by 
means  of  paper  smeared  with  the  fat  of  animals  sacred 
to  the  Hindus  and  unclean  to  the  Mohammedans. 


The  Great  Mutiny  161 

As  soon  as  each  fresh  body  of  mutineers  arrived  in 
Delhi,  it  was  sent  forth  to  receive  its  baptism  of  fire 
from  the  besieging  army.  About  5  P.M.  of  the  i3th, 
another  of  these  attacks  was  led  by  the  6oth  Native 
Infantry.  The  assailants,  writes  Hodson,  "  suffered  for 
it  as  usual,  but  also,  as  usual,  we  lost  several  good  men 
whom,  God  knows,  we  can  ill  spare."  He  himself  "  had 
to  run  the  gauntlet  now  and  then  of  a  rain  of  shot  and 
shells  with  which  the  rebels  belaboured  us.  Our  artillery 
officers  themselves  say  that  they  are  outmatched  by  these 
rascals  in  accuracy  and  rapidity  of  fire ;  and  as  they  have 
unlimited  supply  of  guns  and  ammunition  from  our  own 
greatest  arsenal,  they  are  quite  beyond  us  in  many  respects. 
I  am  just  returned  from  a  long  ride  to  look  after  a  party 
of  plunderers  from  the  city  who  had  gone  round  our 
flank:  I  disposed  of  a  few." 

Almost  daily  the  rebels  attacked  some  part  of  Barnard's 
position.  In  Hodson's  own  words,  "  We  are  as  nearly 
besieged  as  the  rebels  themselves  are,  and  we  lose  valuable 
lives  in  every  encounter."  Meanwhile,  from  the  i6th  to 
the  2oth,  he  himself  was  confined  to  his  tent  with  a  severe 
inflammatory  cold. 

"  Every  one  is  very  kind,  the  general  particularly  so: 
he  insists  on  having  me  in  his  own  tent,  as  being  so  much 
larger  than  my  own,  and  he  takes  the  most  fatherly  care 
of  me.  ...  I  woke  in  the  night  and  found  the  kind  old 
man  by  my  bedside,  covering  me  carefully  up  from  the 
draught." 

By  the  2oth,  Hodson  was  much  better,  but  still  very 
weak.  On  the  previous  evening  the  rebels  had  assailed 
our  rear  with  some  2000  men  and  six  guns.  After  a  sharp 
fight  they  were  chased  back  with  heavy  loss  to  their  own 
lines  by  the  gth  Lancers  and  the  cavalry  of  the  Guides. 
Colonel  Becher,  quartermaster-general,  was  shot  through 
the  right  arm,  and  Captain  Daly  was  badly  hit  through 
the  shoulder.  "  The  consequence  is,"  says  Hodson,  "  that 
I  have  in  effect  to  see  to  the  whole  work  of  the  quarter- 
master-general of  the  army;  and  in  addition  the  general 
has  begged  me  as  a  personal  favour  to  take  command  of 
the  Guides  until  Daly  has  recovered.  I  at  first  refused, 
but  the  general  was  most  urgent,  putting  it  on  the  ground 


1 62  Major  W.  Hodson 

that  the  service  was  at  stake,  and  none  was  so  fit,  etc.,  etc. 
I  do  feel  that  we  are  bound  to  do  our  best  just  now  to 
put  things  on  a  proper  footing,  and  after  consulting 
Seaton  and  Norman,  I  accepted  the  command.  .  .  . 
General  Barnard  has  written  most  strongly  in  my  favour, 
and  has  voluntarily  pledged  himself  to  get  me  my  majority 
as  soon  as  ever  I  am  a  captain.  I  confess  I  feel  a  little 
proud  at  being  earnestly  requested  to  take  again  the 
command  of  which  the  machinations  of  my  enemies  had 
deprived  me." 

As  early,  indeed,  as  June  16,  Sir  H.  Barnard  had 
requested  the  adjutant-general  to  bring  to  the  notice  of 
the  new  commander-in-chief,  Sir  Patrick  Grant,  "  the 
assistance  I  have  received  in  every  way  from  the  services 
of  Lieutenant  Hodson,  ist  Bengal  European  Fusiliers. 
Since  the  arrival  of  his  regiment  at  Umbala  up  to  the 
present  date,  his  untiring  energy  and  perpetual  anxiety 
to  assist  me  in  any  way  in  which  his  services  might  be 
found  useful  have  distinguished  him  throughout,  and  are 
now  my  reasons  for  bringing  this  officer  thus  specially 
to  the  notice  of  the  commander-in-chief."1 

1  G.  W.  Forrest's  Selections  from  the  Records  of  the  Indian  Mutiny, 
1857-58. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   SIEGE   OF  DELHI.      JUNE-AUGUST   1857 

BY  June  21,  Hodson  had  so  far  recovered  that  he  was 
able  to  mount  his  horse  and  go  about  his  various  duties 
in  spite  of  the  bodily  weakness  which  still  annoyed  him. 
"  God,"  he  said,  "  has  been  very  good  to  me,  and  in 
nothing  more  so  than  in  preserving  what  is  most  precious 
to  me  from  the  horrible  danger  and  suffering  of  so  many 
of  our  poor  countrywomen  and  children."  The  sight] of 
so  many  refugee  officers  wandering  about  the  camp  made 
him  the  more  thankful  that  his  stepson,  Reginald  Mitford, 
then  serving  at  Agra  with  the  3rd  Europeans,  "  was  safe 
from  that  at  least."  Pending  the  arrival  of  reinforce- 
ments from  the  Punjab,  he  felt  that  nothing  more  could 
be  done  against  Delhi,  although,  like  many  others,  he 
still  cherished  the  hope  that  a  few  days  more  might  "  end 
this  business,  .  .  .  and  so  enable  a  part  at  least  of  the 
force  to  move  on  towards  Aligarh,  and  reopen  the  roads 
and  daks,  and  restore  order  for  the  time;  but  when  the 
end  will  be  who  can  say?  " 

On  June  23,  the  centenary  of  Plassy,  the  rebels  made 
a  furious  attack  with  all  their  available  men  and  guns 
along  the  whole  of  Barnard's  position.  All  day  the  fight 
went  on  under  a  burning  sun,  which  struck  down  many 
of  our  brave  countrymen.  A  prophecy  was  current 
among  the  sepoys  that  on  this  day  they  were  destined 
to  overthrow  the  Faranghi  rule.  Hodson,  of  course,  was 
in  the  saddle  nearly  all  day.  His  kind  old  commander, 
Colonel  Welchman,  "  got  an  ugly  wound  in  the  arm,  and 
Dennis  was  knocked  down  by  the  sun,  and  numbers  of 
the  men;  but  nothing  less  than  a  knock-down  blow  from 
sun,  sword,  or  bullet  stops  a  British  soldier.  How  well 
they  fought  to-day,  and,  to  do  them  justice,  so  did  my 
old  Guides  and  my  new  Sikhs,  while  the  little  Gurkhas 
vied  with  any  in  endurance  and  courage." 
163 


164  Major  W.  Hodson 

On  the  following  day,  Colonel  Neville  Chamberlain,1 
the  new  adjutant-general,  arrived  in  camp,  having  made 
over  to  Colonel  John  Nicholson  the  command  of  that 
movable  column  which  had  already  been  doing  good 
work  in  the  Punjab.  His  presence,  said  Hodson,  "  ought 
to  be  worth  a  thousand  men  to  us."  To  Sir  T.  Seaton 
"he  was  "  the  right  man  in  the  right  place,  for  he  always 
advocated  in  war  bold  and  energetic  measures." 

The  great  sortie  on  June  23  might  have  gone  ill  with 
our  brave  soldiers  but  for  the  fact  that  some  of  Hodson's 
native  spies  had  brought  him  timely  warning  of  the 
-enemy's  intended  movement.  About  that  time  his 
friend  Colonel  Seaton,  who  had  also  come  under  the 
doctor's  hands,  had  daily  opportunities  of  watching  the 
working  of  the  Intelligence  Department.  "  Spies  came 
in  from  the  city  at  all  times  during  the  day,  and  in  all 
sorts  of  disguises,  some  bearing  intelligence  by  word  of 
mouth,  others  bringing  mysterious  little  scrolls  that 
had  been  concealed  in  the  most  inexplicable  manner. 
"These  were  mostly  from  Rajab  Ali's  own  connections 
and  friends  about  Court,  and  some  friendly  news-writers 
whose  services  he  had  engaged." 

It  is  needless  here  to  dwell  on  the  dangers  to  which 
our  spies  were  exposed  alike  from  their  own  countrymen 
and  the  British  sentries.  Some  of  them  disappeared, 
says  Sir  T.  Seaton,  "  but  our  news-writers  escaped  de- 
tection. I  have  two  of  these  letters  now  before  me, 
little  scrolls  of  the  finest  paper — finer  and  closer  than  our 
tissue  paper — two  and  a  quarter  inches  long  by  one  and 
a  half  broad.  .  .  .  The  translation  of  one  scroll  fills  two 
and  a  quarter  pages  of  large  blue  letter-paper." 

Those  spies  who  brought  in  verbal  intelligence  had  to 
undergo  a  rigorous  examination  both  from  Hodson  and 
Rajab  Ali.  After  these  two  had  laid  their  heads  together, 
Hodson  himself  would  put  the  messenger  through  a  still 
more  searching  examination,  in  order,  as  Seaton  remarks, 
to  separate  the  corn  from  the  chaff, — a  very  necessary 
process,  for  however  desirous  a  native  may  be  to  tell  the 
truth,  and  even  where  it  is  his  interest  to  do  so,  he  cannot 
"help  embellishing  it  a  little,  like  the  man  regarding  whom 
»  Now  Field-Marshal  Sir  Neville  Chamberlain,  G.C.B.,  etc. 


The  Siege  of  Delhi  165 

an  Irish  friend  quaintly  said,  '  Bedad,  colonel,  the  lad 
tells  too  much  truth.'  .  .  .  Hodson's  aptitude  for  turning; 
a  native  inside  out  and  getting  at  the  truth  was  first-rate. 
Such  a  marvellous  capacity  required  a  complete  mastery 
of  the  language,  a  thorough  appreciation  of  the  native 
character,  and  power  to  seize  at  once  the  peculiarities  of 
the  individual  under  examination."  1 

To  Hodson's  peculiar  merits  as  a  leader  of  irregular 
horse,  Brigadier  (afterwards  Sir  J.)  Hope  Grant,  G.C.B., 
himself  a  successful  leader  of  cavalry,  paid  the  following 
tribute  in  his  diary  of  the  siege:  "  After  Major  Daly  had 
been  badly  wounded,  Hodson  was  replaced  in  command. 
He  was  a  dashing,  clear-headed,  energetic  officer;  no 
man  understood  or  could  lead  an  irregular  regiment  better, 
and  at  such  a  time  his  services  in  the  field  could  not  be 
dispensed  with."  2 

"  He  is  scarcely  out  of  the  saddle  day  or  night,"  wrote 
another  officer;  "  for  not  only  has  he  to  lead  his  regiment 
and  keep  the  country  clear,  but  being  Intelligence  officer 
he  is  always  on  the  move  to  gain  news  of  the  progress  of 
affairs  and  acts  and  intentions  of  the  enemy. 

"  Even  when  he  might  take  rest  he  will  not,  but  will 
go  and  help  work  at  the  batteries,  and  expose  himself 
constantly,  in  order  to  relieve  some  fainting  gunner  or 
wounded  man." 

When  the  stress  of  work  in  camp  fell  so  hard  upon  our 
wearied  soldiers  that  the  officers  had  to  dispense  with  the 
customary  salute,  "  it  was  remarked,"  said  another  officer, 
"  that  Hodson  never  passed  down  the  lines  without  every 
man  rendering  to  him  that  mark  of  respect.  The  soldiers 
loved  him  as  their  own.  '  There  goes  that  'ere  Hodson,' 
said  a  drunken  soldier,  as  he  cantered  down  the  lines; 
'  he's  sure  to  be  in  everything :  he'll  get  shot,  I  know  he 
will,  and  I'd  a  deal  rather  be  shot  myself:  we  can't  do 
without  him.'  " 

On  June  28,  Hodson  was  despatched  to  Bhagpat  on 
the  Jumna,  twenty-five  miles  from  camp,  to  look  after 
matters  there,  and  try  to  save  the  boats  which  had  just 
been  abandoned  by  a  panic-stricken  officer  from  the 
Meerut  garrison.  He  recovered  the  boats,  and  "  found 
1  From  Cadet  to  Colonel.  *  Incidents  in  the  Sepoy  War. 


1 66  Major  W.  Hodson 

all  quiet  in  spite  of  's  disgraceful  flight."  On  the 

night  of  the  2gth  he  rode  off  again  to  Bhagpat,  accom- 
panied by  Shebbeare  of  the  Guides.  "  We  worked  like 
a  couple  of  '  navvies/  passing  the  two  days  and  one  night 
on  the  banks  of  the  river  without  shelter,  and  almost 
without  food;  for  we  had  nothing  but  a  couple  of 
chupatties  each,  and  a  small  tin  of  soup  and  a  little  tea, 
which  I  fortunately  took  with  me." 

By  the  night  of  July  i,  they  succeeded  in  bringing 
every  boat  safe  into  camp.  In  sending  Hodson  forth 
upon  the  mission  thus  successfully  accomplished,  General 
Barnard  had  declared  that  he  did  so  "  because  I  can  trust 
your  judgment  quite  as  much  as  your  energy." l 

In  the  first  weeks  of  July  the  flow  of  reinforcements 
from  the  Punjab  had  raised  the  effective  strength  of 
Barnard's  little  army  to  about  6600  men  of  all  arms. 
Several  hundred  recruits  for  Hodson's  new  regiment  were 
to  reach  him  a  few  days  later  from  Lahore  and  Jagraon. 
Some  of  his  officers  were  already  in  camp — amongst  them 
his  second  in  command,  Lieutenant  Charles  M'Dowell  of 
the  2nd  Bengal  Fusiliers.  "  He  is  a  gentleman,"  wrote 
Hodson,  "  and  only  wants  opportunity  to  become  a 
gallant  soldier."  M'Dowell  had  a  lively  wit,  a  sunny 
sensitive  nature,  and  a  great  soul  encased  in  a  small  frail- 
looking  body.  Himself  a  soldier's  son,  he  had  already 
seen  hard  fighting  at  Chilian wala  and  Gujarat,  and  had 
since  come  to  know  and  appreciate  his  future  friend  and 
leader. 

Another  of  Hodson's  earliest  officers,  Captain  George 
Ward  of  the  8th  Bengal  Cavalry,  had  served  and  fought 
throughout  the  two  campaigns  against  the  Sikhs.  Lieu- 
tenant D.  W.  Wise  of  the  4th  Bengal  Lancers  had  also 
served  throughout  the  fierce  campaign  along  the  Satlaj. 

On  the  evening  of  July  3,  Hodson  informed  his  chief 
that  a  large  body  of  rebels  had  marched  past  our  right 
flank  along  the  road  to  Alipur.  At  2.30  A.M.  of  the  4th, 
a  force  of  all  arms,  led  by  the  gallant  Major  Coke,  marched 
out  from  camp  to  intercept  them  on  their  return  to  Delhi. 
While  Lieutenant  Roberts  2  felt  for  the  enemy  along  the 

1  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse. 
*  Now  Field-Marshal  Lord  Roberts,  V.C..  G.C.B.,  etc. 


The  Siege  of  Delhi  167 

main  road,  Hodson  led  his  Guides  along  the  right  bank 
of  the  canal.  As  soon  as  our  guns  had  driven  the  enemy 
from  their  positions,  the  cavalry  of  the  Guides,  says  Sir 
Henry  Barnard,  "  followed  them  with  the  greatest  spirit, 
and  succeeded  in  cutting  up  some  more  "  of  their  number. 
Twice  again  during  that  day  the  rebels  came  down  upon 
our  wearied  troops,  who  had  to  fight  over  ground  which 
the  recent  rain  had  turned  into  a  mere  swamp.  "  Both 
men  and  horses,"  writes  Hodson,  "  were  terribly  knocked 
up  towards  the  end  of  the  day,  and  could  hardly  crawl 
back  to  camp;  and  no  wonder.  I  was  mercifully  pre- 
served, though  I  am  sorry  to  say  my  gallant  Feroza  was 
badly  wounded  twice  with  sabre-cuts,  and  part  of  his 
bridle  cut  through,  and  a  piece  of  my  glove  shaved  off; 
so  it  was  rather  close  work.  My  men,  who  were  the  most 
engaged  of  all,  escaped  with  the  loss  of  one  killed  and  six 
wounded,  and  six  horses  put  hors-de-combat." 

During  the  afternoon  of  July  5,  Sir  H.  Barnard  breathed 
his  last  after  a  few  hours'  illness.  "  Cholera  then,  as 
ever,  was  present  in  the  camp,"  writes  Major  (now  Sir 
Henry)  Norman,  "  and  the  death  of  any  one  excited  no 
surprise;  but  no  doubt  Sir  Henry  Barnard's  attack  was 
due  in  a  great  degree  to  his  unsparing  exposure  of 
himself  to  the  sun  at  all  hours  of  the  day,  and  to  great 
mental  anxiety."  He  was  "  greatly  regretted  by  the 
whole  force,  and  most  so  by  those  who  knew  him  best. 
Brave,  kind-hearted,  and  hospitable,  it  is  doubtful  if  he 
had  an  enemy."  * 

Hodson  himself  was  naturally  "  much  grieved,  for  no 
kinder  or  more  considerate  or  more  gentlemanly  man 
ever  lived.  I  am  so  sorry  for  his  son,  a  fine  brave  fellow, 
whose  attention  to  his  father  won  the  love  of  us  all.  It 
was  quite  beautiful  to  see  them  together."  "  Poor 
M'Dowell,"  he  adds,  "  is  down  with  fever — a  sad  loss 
just  now  to  '  Hodson's  Horse,'  as  they  call  my  growing 
corps." 

On  the  8th,  Hodson  and  his  Guides  were  out  again 

with  a  force  commanded  by  Brigadier  Langfield,  whose 

sappers  blew  up  some  bridges  and  an  aqueduct  over  the 

Najafgarh   Canal,  about  eight  miles  from   Delhi,  thus 

1  Norman's  Narrative. 


1 68  Major  W.  Hodson 

cutting  the  rebels  off  from  the  shortest  road  to  our  rear, 
and  from  one  source  of  Delhi's  water-supply. 

On  the  morning  of  the  gth,  a  brisk  cannonade  from 
the  city  and  the  suburbs  was  followed  by  the  sudden 
rush  of  a  hundred  rebel  horsemen  upon  a  picket  of 
Carabineers  and  Horse  Artillery  posted  to  the  right  of 
the  Mound  Battery.  Mistaken  at  first  for  some  of  our 
own  Irregulars,  they  dashed  through  the  pickets  right 
into  our  camp  before  the  mistake  had  been  discovered. 
In  those  few  moments  of  panic  and  confusion  nothing 
but  the  cool  courage  of  some  of  our  officers  and  men, 
aided  by  the  heroic  loyalty  of  a  troop  of  native  horse 
artillery,1  could  have  saved  our  arms  from  untold  disaster. 
Half  an  hour  later  the  discomfited  raiders  were  hastening 
back  to  their  old  lines,  leaving  thirty-five  of  their  number 
dead  in  the  British  camp. 

It  was  here  that  Hodson,  "  certainly  the  most  wide- 
awake soldier  in  the  camp,"  as  Harvey  Greathed  wrote 
of  him,  found  himself  for  once  entirely  taken  in  by  the 
retreating  foe.  As  Hope  Grant's  cavalry  were  following 
up  the  pursuit  they  saw  a  body  of  sowars  leisurely  taking 
the  same  direction  as  themselves.  "  They  were  dressed," 
says  Hope  Grant,  "  exactly  like  our  own  men,  and  I 
could  not  believe  them  to  be  a  hostile  force;  but  to 
make  quite  sure  I  sent  my  aide-de-camp,  Augustus  Anson, 
to  ascertain  their  identity,  and  he  brought  me  back  word 
that  they  were  a  detachment  of  our  own  cavalry.  Captain 
Hodson  also  rode  up,  accosted  them,  and  marched  with 
them  for  some  distance  under  the  impression  that  they 
belonged  to  one  of  the  Hindustani  regiments  in  camp. 
They  entered  into  most  friendly  conversation  with  him, 
and  told  him,  I  think,  that  they  were  a  party  of  the  qth 
Irregulars.  All  of  a  sudden,  however,  they  put  spurs  to 
their  horses,  galloped  off  like  wildfire,  giving  us  the  slip 
completely;  and  we  then  discovered  for  the  first  time  that 
they  were  some  rebel  cavalry."  2 

There  was  much  laughter  that  night  at  the  head- 

1  The  rebel  raiders  called  upon  these  brave  men  to  join  their  side : 
their  only  answer  was  to  request  Major  Olphert's  gunners  to  fire 
through  them  into  the  enemy. 

*  Incidents  of  the  Sepoy  War. 


The  Siege  of  Delhi  169 

quarters  mess  over  this  unlucky  mistake — laughter  in 
which  Hodson  himself  would  certainly  have  joined,  for 
he  was  still  what  Napier  had  described  him  in  his  first 
campaign  with  the  Guides. 

"  Affairs  at  times  looked  very  queer,"  wrote  a  dis- 
tinguished officer,  "  from  the  frightful  expenditure  of 
life.  Hodson's  face  was  then  like  sunshine  breaking 
through  the  dark  clouds  of  despondency  and  gloom  that 
would  settle  down  occasionally  on  all  but  a  few  brave 
hearts,  England's  worthiest  sons,  who  were  determined 
to  conquer." 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Colonel  Seaton  returned  to 
camp  after  thirty-six  hours  of  outpost  duty  under  a. 
pouring  rain.  "  On  getting  into  camp,"  he  writes,  "  I 
found  my  own  tent  pitched,  my  servants  all  waiting, 
clean  clothes,  washing  tackle,  a  clean  breakfast-table,  a 
nice  breakfast,  and  Hodson  with  a  smiling  face,  waiting 
my  arrival,  and  enjoying  our  new  mansion."  x 

"  You  know,"  wrote  Seaton  afterwards  to  a  friend,. 
"  that  during  the  whole  of  the  terrible  siege  of  Delhi  we 
lived  together  in  the  same  tent,  and  excepting  while  on. 
duty,  we  were  never  separate.  It  was  there  I  saw  in  all 
their  splendour  his  noble  soldierly  qualities;  never 
fatigued,  never  downcast,  always  cool  and  calm,  with  a 
cheerful  countenance  and  a  word  of  encouragement  for 
every  one.  I  used  often  to  say,  '  Here,  Hodson,  is  some- 
body else  coming  for  comfort.'  " 

Recruits  for  Hodson's  Horse  were  now  coming  in  faster 
and  in  greater  numbers.  "  For  officers,"  he  writes,  "  I 
hope  to  have  permanently  M'Dowell,  Shebbeare  (now 
acting  as  my  second  in  command  of  the  Guides,  and  a 
most  excellent  officer),  and  Hugh  Gough  of  the  3rd 
Cavalry.  ...  I  have  seven  officers  attached  to  the 
Guides,  but  two  are  wounded,  and  Chalmers  is  very  ill. 
Young  Ellis  of  the  ist  Fusiliers  is  down  with  cholera, 
poor  boy." 

On  the  morning  of  July  14,  some  10,000  of  the  rebels 

made  a  series  of  determined  rushes  against  our  right 

flank.     As  our  fire  from  the  ridge  failed  to  drive  them. 

off,  a  column  under  Brigadier  Showers  moved  out  at 

1  From  Cadet  to  Colonel. 


170  Major  W.  Hodson 

3  P.M.,  and  after  a  hot  fight  among  gardens  and  walled 
enclosures  forced  the  enemy  to  withdraw  their  guns  and 
shelter  themselves  within  the  city.  Hodson  himself,  who 
had  just  returned  from  a  long  day's  work  with  his  cavalry 
in  rear  of  the  camp,  joined  Shebbeare's  party  of  Guides 
in  time  to  play  a  conspicuous  part  in  what  he  described 
as  "  one  of  the  sharpest  encounters  we  have  yet  had." 
"'  Shebbeare/'  he  adds,  "  got  wounded  early  in  the  fight, 
so  I  led  the  Guide  infantry  myself  in  the  skirmish  of  the 
villages  and  suburbs.  I  charged  the  guns  with  some 
-eight  horsemen,  a  party  of  the  Guide  infantry,  and  ist 
Fusiliers.  We  got  within  thirty  yards,  but  the  enemy's 
grape  was  too  much  for  our  small  party.  Three  of  my 
officers,  Shebbeare,  Hawes,  and  De  Brett,  slightly  wounded, 
and  several  men ;  but  though  well  to  the  front,  my  party 
suffered  proportionally  least. 

"  Of  the  Fusiliers  who  were  with  us  some  sixty  men 
were  wounded;  Daniell's  arm  broken  by  a  shot,  Jacob's 
horse  shot  dead  under  him,  Chamberlain  shot  through 
the  arm,  little  Roberts  wounded,  and  several  more. 
^Everybody  wonders  I  was  not  hit  —  none  more  than 
myself.  God  has  been  very  merciful  to  me." 

While  the  Fusiliers  and  Coke's  Punjabis  were  driving 
the  mass  of  the  enemy  "  helter-skelter  through  the  gardens 
to  our  right,  I  went,"  says  Hodson,  "  with  the  Guides, 
Gurkhas,  and  part  of  the  Fusiliers  along  the  Grand  Trunk 
Road  leading  right  into  the  gates  of  Delhi.  We  were 
exposed  to  a  heavy  fire  of  grape  from  the  walls,  and 
musketry  from  behind  trees  and  rocks;  but  pushing  on, 
we  drove  them  right  up  to  the  very  walls,  and  then  were 
•ordered  to  retire." 

Emboldened  by  the  rearward  movement  of  our  troops, 
the  enemy  rallied  and  brought  two  of  their  guns  to  bear  on 
their  late  assailants.  Hodson,  however,  was  covering  the 
retreat.  With  the  help  of  a  few  officers  and  men  hastily 
got  together,  he  prepared  to  stem  the  onset  of  a  body  of 
rebel  horse.  He  called  upon  his  men  to  fire  into  the 
advancing  cavalry.  "  I  got  a  few  men  to  open  fire," 
he  wrote.  "  My  gallant  Guides  stood  their  ground  like 
men;  Shebbeare,  Jacob,  Greville,  and  little  Butler 
came  to  the  front,  and  the  mass  of  the  enemy's  cavalry, 


The  Siege  of  Delhi  171 

just  as  I  said,  stopped,  reeled,  turned,  and  fled  in  con- 
fusion." 

For  a  moment  the  guns  behind  them  were  deserted, 
and  Hodson  "  tried  hard  to  get  up  a  charge  to  capture 
them:  we  were  within  thirty  paces;  twenty-five  resolute 
men  would  have  been  enough;  but  the  soldiers  were 
blown  and  could  not  push  on  in  the  face  of  such  odds, 
unsupported  as  we  were,  for  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  the 
troops  had  retired.  My  eight  horsemen  stood  their  ground, 
and  the  little  knot  of  officers  used  every  exertion  to  aid 
us,  when  suddenly  two  rascals  rushed  forward  with  lighted 
portfires  in  their  hands,  fired  the  guns,  loaded  with  grape, 
in  our  faces,  and  when  the  smoke  cleared  away,  we  found 
to  our  infinite  disgust  and  chagrin  that  they  had  limbered 
up  the  guns  and  were  off  at  a  gallop.  We  had  then  to 
effect  our  retreat  to  rejoin  the  column  under  a  heavy  fire 
of  grape  and  musketry,  and  many  men  and  officers  were 
hit  in  doing  it.  I  managed  to  get  the  Guides  to  retire 
quietly,  fighting  as  they  went,  and  fairly  checking  the 
enemy,  on  which  I  galloped  back  and  brought  up  two 
guns,  when  we  soon  stopped  all  opposition  and  drove  the 
last  Pandy  into  Delhi. 

"  My  Guides  stood  firm  and,  as  well  as  my  new  men, 
behaved  admirably:  not  so  all  who  were  engaged,  and 
it  was  in  consequence  of  that  poor  Chamberlain  got 
wounded;  for  seeing  a  hesitation  among  the  troops  he 
led,  who  did  not  like  the  look  of  a  wall  lined  with  Pandies, 
and  stopped  short  instead  of  going  up  to  it,  he  leaped 
his  horse  clean  over  the  wall  into  the  midst  of  them, 
and  dared  the  men  to  follow,  which  they  did,  but  he  got 
a  ball  in  the  shoulder.  There  is  not  a  braver  heart  or 
cooler  head  in  camp."  l 

In  that  day's  fighting  Hodson  seemed  as  usual  to  bear 
a  charmed  life.  Writing  to  his  wife  a  few  days  later,  he 
confirms  the  story  of  a  hair-breadth  escape  which  had 
just  appeared  in  a  Simla  newspaper.  "  The  story  in  the 
papers  about  the  boot  was  essentially  correct  for  once, 
though  how  they  should  have  got  hold  of  it  I  do  not 

1  "  A  charge  of  cavalry  was  turned  by  a  few  musket-shots  from  a 
party  under  Hodson,  who  always  turns  up  in  moments  of  difficulty." 
— Greathed's  Letters  written  during  the  Siege  of  Delhi. 


\J2  Major  W.  Hodson 

know,  for  I  never  mentioned  it  even  to  you,  since  it 
certainly  could  not  be  called  a  wound,  though  a  very 
narrow  escape  from  one.  A  rascally  Pandy  made  a 
thrust  at  my  horse,  which  I  parried,  when  he  seized  his 
tulwar  in  both  hands,  bringing  it  down  like  a  sledge- 
hammer: it  caught  on  the  iron  of  my  antigropelos  legging, 
which  it  broke  into  the  skin,  cut  through  the  stirrup- 
leather,  and  took  a  slice  off  my  boot  and  stocking;  and 
yet,  wonderful  to  say,  the  sword  did  not  penetrate  the 
skin.  Both  my  horse  and  myself  were  staggered  by  the 
force  of  the  blow,  but  I  recovered  myself  quickly,  and 
I  don't  think  that  Pandy  will  ever  raise  his  tulwar  again. 
I  should  not  have  entered  into  all  these  details  about  self 
but  for  those  tiresome  papers  having  made  so  much  of  it." 

On  the  i6th,  Hodson  took  leave  of  Colonel  Welchman, 
who  was  sent  off  on  the  following  day  towards  Umbala 
and  the  hills.  "  We  are  in  a  nice  fix  here,"  writes  Hodson. 
"  General  Reed  is  so  ill  he  is  ordered  away  at  once; 
Chamberlain  is  on  his  back  for  six  weeks  at  least ;  Norman, 
however,  is  safe  and  doing  admirably, — were  he  to  be  hit, 
the  '  headquarters  '  would  break  down  altogether.  There 
will  be  no  assault  on  Delhi  yet;  our  rulers  will  now  less 
than  ever  decide  on  a  bold  course;  and,  truth  to  tell,  the 
numbers  of  the  enemy  have  so  rapidly  increased,  and 
ours  have  been  so  little  replenished  in  proportion,  and 
our  losses,  for  a  small  army,  have  been  so  severe,  that  it 
becomes  a  question  whether  now  we  have  numbers 
sufficient  to  risk  an  assault.  Would  to  Heaven  it  had 
been  tried  when  I  first  pressed  it!  " 

On  the  1 7th,  Major-General  Reed,  who  had  so  lately 
stepped  into  Barnard's  place,  was  compelled  by  failing 
health  to  go  up  to  Simla  on  sick-leave.  Before  starting 
he  made  over  his  command  to  Colonel  Wilson  of  the 
Bengal  Artillery,  who,  not  being  the  senior  officer  in 
camp,  was  promoted  by  Reed  to  the  rank  of  major- 
general.  Chamberlain's  wound  alone  disabled  him  from 
taking  up  the  command,  to  which  his  past  services  and 
present  standing  would  have  justly  entitled  him.1 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  i8th,  Hodson  was  summoned 

1  Norman's  Narrative.  The  Chaplain's  Narrative  of  the  Siege 
of  Delhi 


The  Siege  of  Delhi  173 

"  to  take  the  Guide  cavalry  down  into  the  suburbs  to 
support  some  guns,  and  assist  in  driving  the  enemy  back 
into  the  city.  My  own  men,  whose  duty  was  the  difficult 
one  of  enduring  a  very  hot  fire  without  acting,  behaved 
admirably,  and  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  losing  only  one 
killed  and  two  wounded,  besides  a  few  horses,  who 
generally  come  off  second  best  where  bullets  are  flying 
about.  My  poor  Feroza  was  hit  by  one,  but  not  danger- 
ously, and  I  was  again  most  mercifully  preserved  un- 
harmed." 

From  this  time  there  was  no  more  serious  fighting  in 
the  Sabzi  Mandi,  for  our  engineers  had  at  last  succeeded 
in  clearing  away  the  old  serais,  walls,  and  gardens  for 
some  distance  round  the  posts  held  by  our  pickets  in  that 
suburb,  while  the  breastworks  connecting  these  pickets 
with  the  crest  of  the  Hindu  Rao  post  on  the  ridge  were 
also  completed  and  made  secure.1 

When  the  earliest  tidings  of  the  Cawnpore  massacres 
reached  camp  on  the  igth,  the  consequent  depression  of 
spirits  among  our  men  brought  on  a  fresh  outburst  of 
cholera.  In  order  to  cheer  up  his  men,  General  Wilson 
directed  that  a  regimental  band  should  play  every 
morning  in  the  centre  of  the  camp.  "  This,"  says  Sir 
T.  Seaton,  "  had  a  very  beneficial  effect.  The  men  of 
different  regiments  met  together  and  had  an  hour's 
pleasant  chat,  which  brightened  them  up,  and  was  far 
better  for  them  than  sitting  in  their  tents,  gloomy  and 
dull,  blessing  (?)  the  heat,  the  flies,  and  the  Pandies,  an 
occupation  that  was  a  certain  shoeing-horn  for  cholera." 

On  the  2oth,  as  Colonel  Seaton  was  returning  from  a 
reconnaissance  in  the  Sabzi  Mandi,  a  small  body  of  rebels 
suddenly  began  to  fire  upon  his  retreating  troops.  They 
were  even  threatening  a  rush  upon  his  rear,  when  "  the 
Guides,  admirably  posted  by  that  excellent  officer  Lieu- 
tenant Hodson,  gave  them  a  volley  with  a  cheer,  which 
drove  them  off  precipitately,  and  I  returned  to  camp 
without  further  molestation."  2 

On  July  23rd,  while  a  column  under  Brigadier  Showers 
was  engaged  in  driving  the  enemy  back  from  Ludlow 
Castle,  Colonel  Seaton  was  badly  wounded  by  a  musket- 

'  Norman's  Narrative.  »  G.  W.  Forrest's  Selections. 


174  Major  W.  Hodson 

ball,  which  entered  the  breast  and  came  out  at  the  back, 
breaking  one  of  his  ribs,  and  thereby  causing  some  injury 
to  one  of  his  lungs.  On  seeing  the  condition  of  his 
wounded  friend,  Hodson  galloped  off  at  once  to  camp 
and  got  everything  ready,  including  Dr.  Mactier,  for 
ministering  to  the  sufferer's  needs.  "  Dr.  Mactier,"  says 
Seaton,  "  told  Hodson  that  I  was  not  on  any  account  to 
speak  or  to  be  spoken  to  for  a  week,  as  my  recovery 
depended  on  perfect  silence.  ...  I  owe  as  much  to  Dr. 
Mactier's  skill,  patience,  and  kindness  as  any  wounded 
man  ever  owed  to  any  doctor." 

How  much  he  owed  to  Hodson's  tender  nursing  was  a 
thing  which  he  could  never  forget.  "  He  watched  and 
tended  me  with  the  affection  of  a  brother ;  he  anticipated 
all  my  wants,  prevented  me  from  speaking,  and  carefully 
excluded  every  one  from  the  tent."  "  You  know,"  wrote 
Seaton,  long  after  Hodson's  death,  "  how  he  nursed  me 
when  I  was  wounded.  I  am  indebted  for  my  rapid 
recovery  in  a  very  great  measure  to  his  care  and  fore- 
thought; and  it  was  whilst  lying  helpless  and  feeble  I 
saw  that  the  brave  and  stern  soldier  had  also  the  tender- 
ness of  a  woman  in  his  noble  heart.  His  constant  care 
was  to  prevent  Mrs.  Hodson  from  feeling  any  anxiety 
that  he  could  save  her;  so  that  whenever  he  went  out 
on  any  expedition  that  would  detain  him  beyond  twenty- 
four  hours,  he  invariably  asked  me,  and  I  used  to  make 
it  my  duty,  to  write  to  Mrs.  Hodson  daily,  accounting  for 
his  absence,  and  giving  such  details  as  I  could  of  his 
doings." 

About  this  time  Hodson  consented,  at  General  Wilson's 
suggestion,  to  give  up  the  command  of  the  Guides  and 
retain  the  post  of  assistant  quartermaster-general.  He 
had  already  found  himself  overtaxed  with  too  many 
duties.  He  would  have  preferred  to  lead  his  old  corps 
into  Delhi — "  but  it  is  best  as  it  is.  .  .  .  The  general  was 
very  complimentary  on  my  doings  while  commanding  the 
Guides,  and  '  trusted  to  receive  equally  invaluable  services 
from  my  new  regiment.'  " 

Before  the  end  of  July  the  adjutancy  of  his  new  regiment 
had  been  conferred  upon  Lieutenant  (now  General  Sir 
Hugh)  Gough,  G.C.B.  and  V.C.,  in  room  of  Lieutenant 


The  Siege  of  Delhi  175 

M'Dowell,  who  had  hitherto  been  acting  both  as  adjutant 
and  second  in  command.  Gough  was  at  Meerut  when  he 
received  the  welcome  news  of  his  appointment  to  a  corps 
commanded  by  a  "  man  whose  name  had  been  well  known 
in  the  Punjab  and  frontier  campaigns  as  a  sabreur  of 
distinction,  the  very  mention  of  whom  was  a  proverb 
and  war-cry  in  the  Punjab  as  '  The  Great  Hodson.'  " 1 

On  reaching  the  camp  before  Delhi,  Gough  at  once 
reported  himself  to  his  new  commandant.  He  found 
Hodson  sitting  booted  and  spurred,  talking  to  one  of  his. 
native  spies  from  Delhi.  "  He  looked  up  with  a  quick 
sharp  glance,  which  seemed  to  go  through  me, — as  he 
told  me  afterwards,  he  '  liked  my  looks  ' — and  then  said, 
'  You  are  just  the  man  I  want,  Gough;  are  you  fit  for 
a  ride?  '  I  promptly  said, '  Yes,  sir  '  (though,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  I  was  rather  beat);  and  he  then  said, '  Well,  come 
along  with  me;  I  am  going  out  for  a  reconnaissance.' 

"  I  had  some  breakfast,  and  we  started  with  a  small 
body  of  his  men,  and  had  a  really  long  ride  and  a  good 
reconnaissance  through  the  enemy's  country.  We  had 
no  adventures,  but  I  was  struck  with  Hodson's  marvel- 
lous knowledge  of  the  language  and  the  quick  way  he 
seemed  to  extract  all  the  information  he  wanted,  and  his. 
great  powers  of  endurance." 

Late  that  night  they  returned  to  camp,  after  a  ride  of 
more  than  sixty  miles.  Gough  was  glad  to  be  regaled 
with  a  good  dinner,  the  best  curry-and-rice  I  ever  tasted,, 
and  a  bottle  of  beer.  Although  Hodson  was  able  to 
work  everlastingly  on  very  little  when  necessary,  at  other 
times  he  took  very  good  care  of  the  inner  man.  He 
seemed  much  pleased  with  me  during  the  day,  and  I 
slept  that  night  very  tired  and  very  happy." 

"  Since  the  23rd,  hardly  a  shot  has  been  fired  here,"' 
says  Hodson,  writing  on  the  27th.  "  The  news-letters 
from  the  city  mention  meetings  in  the  market-place  and 
talkings  at  the  corners  of  the  streets,  with  big  words  of" 
what  they  intend  to  do;  but  they  (the  people)  are  actually 
cowed  and  dispirited,  while  their  rulers  issue  orders  which 
are  never  obeyed." 

While  regretting  the  absence  of  any  leader  with  a  head 
1  Sir  Hugh  Cough's  Old  Memories. 


€76  Major  W.  Hodson 

to  devise  or  a  heart  to  dare  some  bold  forward  movement 
against  Delhi,  he  admits  that  "  it  would  require  both  a 
•wise  head  and  a  very  great  heart  to  run  the  risk  with  so 
.reduced  a  force  as  we  have  here  now:  2200  Europeans 
.and  1500  native  infantry  are  all  that  we  now  can  muster." 

On  the  last  day  of  July,  the  Pandies  made  an  attempt 
on  our  position;  but  nothing  came  of  it,  except  a  long 
•day's  work  in  the  saddle  for  Hodson  and  his  men,  who 
had  to  watch  the  movements  of  a  rebel  column  threaten- 
ing the  British  rear.  "  I  have  just  returned,"  he  wrote 
that  evening,  "  after  some  hours  of  the  heaviest  rain  I 
was  ever  out  in,  drenched  to  the  skin,  of  course,  and 
somewhat  tired,  so  judge  what  a  comfort  a  dry  flannel 
shirt  must  be." 

In  one  of  her  letters  to  her  husband,  Mrs.  Hodson  had 
insisted  on  the  difference  between  doing  one's  duty  and 
running  unnecessary  risks.  "  But  what  is  one's  duty?  " 
•asks  Hodson  in  return.  "  Now  I  might,  as  I  have  more 
than  once,  see  things  going  wrong  at  a  time  and  place 
when  I  might  be  merely  a  spectator  and  not  '  on  duty/ 
•or  ordered  to  be  there,  and  I  might  feel  that  by  exposing 
myself  to  danger  for  a  time  I  might  rectify  matters,  and 
I  might  therefore  think  it  right  to  incur  that  danger;  and 
yet  if  I  were  to  get  hit  it  would  be  said,  '  He  had  no 
.business  there  ' ;  nor  should  I,  as  far  as  the  rules  of  the 
service  go,  though  in  my  own  mind  I  should  have  been 
.satisfied  that  I  was  right.  These  are  times  when  every 
jnan  should  do  his  best,  his  utmost,  and  not  say,  '  No ; 
though  I  see  I  can  do  good  there,  yet,  as  I  have  not  been 
.ordered  and  am  not  on  duty,  I  will  not  do  it.'  This  is 
mot  my  idea  of  a  soldier's  duty,  and  hitherto  the  results 
have  proved  me  right." 

From  the  afternoon  of  August  ist  until  late  on  the 
following  day  the  mutineers  made  persistent  attacks 
along  the  right  front  and  flank  of  the  British  lines.  "  All 
night  long,"  says  Norman,  "  the  roar  of  musketry  and 
•artillery  was  incessant.  Constantly  they  eame  close  up 
to  our  breastworks,  but  were  always  repulsed  by  the  fire 
of  our  infantry,  aided,  when  practicable,  by  grape.  Our 
light  mortars,  too,  played  with  effect  upon  the  masses 
.below  the  ridge;  but  it  was  not  till  10  A.M.  of  the  2nd, 


The  Siege  of  Delhi  177 

that  their  efforts  began  to  cease,  and  they  did  not 
altogether  retire  until  4  P.M." 

Meanwhile  the  heavy  rains,  which  had  frustrated  the 
enemy's  attempts  to  cut  off  a  British  convoy  on  July  31, 
were  also  working  a  sensible  improvement  in  the  health 
of  our  troops.  By  August  3,  no  fresh  case  of  cholera 
had  been  reported  in  the  last  four  days,  and  our  men, 
says  Seaton,  "  were  more  cheerful  and  hopeful."  1 

Sickness,  however,  in  other  forms  was  still  prevalent. 
"  We  have  been  nearly  losing  another  general,"  says 
Hodson.  "  General  Wilson  was  very  ill  for  a  few  days, 
but  is  now  better.  He  is  older,  however,  by  ten  years 
than  he  was.  I  like  him  very  much,  but  the  responsi- 
bility and  anxiety  of  what  is  certainly  a  very  difficult 
position  have  been  too  much  for  him,  and  he  has  got  into 
the  way  of  being  nervous  and  alarmed,  and  over-anxious 
even  about  trifles,  which  shakes  one's  dependence  on  his 
judgment.  These  men  are  personally  as  brave  as  lions, 
but  they  have  not  big  hearts  or  heads  enough  for  circum- 
stances of  serious  responsibility.  This  word  is  the  bug- 
bear which  hampers  all  our  proceedings.  Would  we  could 
have  had  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  as  our  leader;  we  should 
have  been  in  Delhi  weeks  ago." 

It  was  not  known  in  camp  that  Hodson's  dear  old 
friend  and  master  had  perished  at  Lucknow  a  month 
earlier,  "  trying  to  do  his  duty."  2  "  The  loss  of  such  a 
man  at  this  crisis,"  says  the  Rev.  J.  E.  Rotton,  "  was 
universally  lamented  as  a  national  calamity.  He  was 
not  only  great,  but  good  as  he  was  great;  a  man  who 

1  From  Cadet  to  Colonel.  Chaplain's  Narrative.  Greathed's 
Letters. 

J  "  On  the  morning  of  July  2,  a  shell  burst  in  Sir  Henry's  room, 
not  so  harmlessly  as  that  which  burst  there  the  day  before.  .  .  . 
For  two  days  he  lingered  with  a  dreadful  wound  below  the  hip,  still 
able  at  times  to  issue  a  few  last  directions,  messages,  and  commands, 
worthy  alike  of  a  thorough  soldier  and  a  guileless  Christian.  .  .  . 
On  the  4th  of  July  his  great  soul  fled,  the  soul  of  one  who,  in  the 
words  he  himself  had  once  suggested  for  his  own  epitaph,  had  always 
'  tried  to  do  his  duty."  .  .  .  The  very  soldiers  who  were  about  to 
bear  his  body  to  the  grave  stooped  down  one  after  another  to  kiss 
his  cold  forehead,  so  deep  was  the  universal  sorrow  for  the  death  of 
*  a  public  benefactor  and  a  warm  personal  friend.'  " — Trotter's 
India  under  Victoria. 

M 


178  Major  W.  Hodson 

feared  God,  and  eschewed  evil,  and  wrought  righteous- 
ness." *• 

"  Who  had  known  him,  and  not  loved  him?  "  wrote 
another  chaplain,  the  Rev.  J.  Cave-Browne.  "  That 
heart,  gentle  as  a  child's,  with  all  its  fire — that  manner  so 
courteous,  so  winning  of  confidence — that  form,  manly 
though  spare — all  the  traces  of  character  which  endeared 
him  to  all  who  worked  with  him  and  under  him,  and 
which  ennobled  him  in  the  memory  of  that  country  which 
he  served,  and  for  which  he  died."  2 

1  Chaplain's  Narrative. 
8  The  Punjab  and  Delhi  in  1857. 


CHAPTER  XV 

BEFORE  DELHI.      AUGUST-SEPTEMBER    1857 

ON  August  4,  the  news  of  Havelock's  victorious  entry 
into  Cawnpore  reached  the  camp  before  Delhi.  The 
destruction  of  Sir  Hugh  Wheeler  and  his  hapless  garrison 
was  also  fully  confirmed;  and  Havelock,  in  Hodson's 
words,  "  was  too  late  to  save  the  unfortunate  women 
and  children,  who  were  massacred  in  their  prison,  before 
his  arrival,  by  their  guards.  Such  fiends  as  these  our 
arms  have  never  met  with  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
May  our  vengeance  be  as  speedy  as  it  will  unquestionably 
be  sure!  " 

On  the  6th,  Hodson  had  hardly  returned  from  one  of 
his  reconnaissances  when  he  found  himself  ordered  on 
another  expedition,  from  which  he  did  not  return  until 
three  o'clock  of  the  next  morning.  "  Hodson  keeps  an. 
Argus-eye  on  the  rear  and  left  flank,  and  is  always  ready 
for  an  adventurous  ride.  I  am  not  surprised  at  Gough 
liking  him;  he  has  a  rare  gift  of  brains,  as  well  as  of 
pluck.  The  uniform  of  his  men,  khaki  tunics,  with  a 
scarlet  sash  over  the  shoulder,  and  turban,  is  very 
picturesque."  x 

On  the  morning  of  August  8,  Nicholson  rode  into  camp 
a  few  days  ahead  of  the  movable  column,  which  under  his 
bold  and  skilful  leading  had  spread  dismay  and  havoc 
among  the  mutineers  in  the  Punjab.  To  Hodson  he  is 
"  a  host  in  himself,  if  he  does  not  go  and  get  knocked 
over  as  Chamberlain  did."  To  the  whole  camp  his  coming 
seemed  to  herald  the  first  step  in  some  daringly  decisive 
movement  against  the  city  which  our  troops  had  made 
a  show  of  besieging  for  two  months  past. 

On  the  same  day,  Hodson  speaks  with  just  disapproval 

of  the  new  arrangement  by  which  the  infantry  of  the 

Guides  had  been  widely  separated  from  the  cavalry.    The 

1  Greathed's  Letters. 

179 


180  Major  W.  Hodson 

Guides,  he  held,  should  not  be  separated,  and  "  should 
be  kept  as  much  apart  as  may  be  from  other  corps." 
His  own  regiment,  he  adds,  "  is  also  in  the  cavalry  brigade, 
and  is  very  hard-worked.  It  is  bad  for  a  young  and  un- 
formed corps,  but  there  is  such  a  scarcity  of  cavalry  here 
that  I  cannot  even  remonstrate." 

He  had  already  gained  "  no  small  amount  of  kudos  " 
for  having  so  many  fit  for  duty  within  two  months  after 
the  order  for  enlisting  them  had  first  been  issued.  "  I 
shall  have  two  more  troops  in  with  the  5  2nd  [Light 
Infantry],  and  Nicholson  has  given  me  fifty  Afghans, 
just  joined  him  from  Peshawar,  which,  added  to  thirty 
coming  with  Ali  Reza  Khan  from  Lahore,  will  complete 
an  Afghan  troop  as  a  counterpoise  to  my  Punjabis." 

It  may  interest  the  reader  to  learn  that  the  uniform 
of  "  Hodson's  Horse  "  consisted  of  a  khaki  tunic,  a  huge 
scarlet  turban,  and  a  scarlet  sash  worn  over  the  shoulder, 
which  led  to  their  receiving  the  nickname  of  "  Flamin- 
goes." 

Meanwhile  the  bridge  over  the  Jumna  by  which  rein- 
forcements were  continually  reaching  the  rebels  resisted 
all  our  efforts  for  its  destruction.  "  Our  engineers,"  says 
Hodson,  "  have  tried  their  worst,  and  failed.  I  have 
tried  all  that  money  could  do,  to  the  extent  of  6000 
rupees,  but  equally  in  vain.  So  there  it  remains  for  the 
benefit  of  the  enemy." 

Before  dawn  of  August  12,  a  column  of  all  arms,  led 
by  the  gallant  Brigadier  Showers,  completely  surprised 
the  enemy's  pickets  about  Ludlow  Castle  and  the  Kudsia 
Bagh.  The  rebels  fought  hard  but  vainly,  and  in  less 
than  half  an  hour  Ludlow  Castle  was  cleared  of  every 
living  sepoy.  Hodson  himself  came  upon  the  scene  before 
the  fight  was  over,  and  carried  a  message  from  Coke  to 
the  brigadier.  "  I  found  Showers  himself  wounded,  and 
then  had  to  find  a  field  officer  to  take  command,  after 
which  I  assisted  generally  in  drawing  off  the  men — the 
withdrawal  or  retirement  being  the  most  difficult  matter 
always,  and  requiring  as  much  steadiness  as  an  attack." 

Four  of  the  enemy's  guns  were  brought  into  camp  as 
trophies  of  a  success  somewhat  dearly  earned  by  the  loss 
of  more  than  a  hundred  slain  or  wounded.  "  The  return 


Before  Delhi  181 

to  camp,"  says  Hodson,  "  was  a  scene  worth  witnessing, 
the  soldiers  bringing  home  in  triumph  the  guns  they  had 
captured,  a  soldier  with  musket  and  bayonet  fixed  riding 
each  horse,  and  brave  young  Owen  astride  one  gun,  and 
dozens  clinging  to  and  pushing  it,  or  rather  them,  along 
with  might  and  main,  and  cheering  like  mad  things." 

On  the  morning  of  the  i4th,  the  Punjab  column,  3000 
strong,  headed  by  its  glorious  leader,  John  Nicholson, 
marched  into  camp  with  bands  playing,  amid  ringing 
cheers  from  the  force  it  had  come  to  succour  in  the  nick 
of  time. 

Among  those  who  then  greeted  the  war-worn  heroes 
of  Trimmu  Ghat,  Hodson  was  not  to  find  a  place.  He 
had  been  out  that  morning  on  a  fruitless  reconnaissance, 
and  had  hardly  begun  a  hurried  letter  to  his  wife  when 
he  got  his  orders  to  start  that  night  for  Rohtak,  where  a 
party  of  mutineers  from  Delhi  were  said  to  be  planning 
fresh  mischief  against  our  right  rear.  With  230  of  his 
own  horse,  100  of  the  Guide  cavalry,  25  of  the  Jhind 
Horse,  and  only  six  European  officers,  he  set  off  on  one 
of  the  most  daring  enterprises  which  he  was  ever  called! 
upon  to  carry  through.  At  the  end  of  a  week  he  was 
to  reappear,  unhurt  himself,  and  happy  in  the  entire 
success  of  a  hazardous  errand,  which  delighted  Wilson 
and  enhanced  his  own  renown  as  a  consummate  cavalry 
leader. 

How  hazardous  an  errand  he  had  undertaken,  with 
what  skill,  hardihcod,  and  prompt  resourcefulness  he 
had  discharged  it,  may  be  gathered,  in  part  at  least, 
from  his  own  letters  and  his  official  report.  By  noon 
of  the  1 5th  his  little  force  had  pushed  on  as  far  as 
Kharkauda. 

"  Having  been  informed  that  a  number  of  irregular 
cavalrymen,  whose  homes  were  in  the  village,  had  arrived 
the  day  before  from  Delhi  at  Kharkauda,  I  took  measures 
for  securing  the  several  entrances  to  it  and  attempting 
their  capture,  sending  a  small  party  of  the  Guide  Corps 
to  surprise  and  arrest  the  leading  man,  named  Basharat 
AH,  a  risaldar  of  the  ist  Regiment,  irregular  cavalry. 
Both  objects  were  accomplished,  only  two  sowars  having 
had  time  to  effect  their  escape  before  the  village  was- 


1 82  Major  W.  Hodson 

surrounded.  I  then  entered  the  village  with  a  party  of 
dismounted  sowars.  From  information  received  from 
the  villagers,  I  was  able  to  seize  several  of  the  mutineer 
sowars  before  they  had  time  to  arm.  A  large  party, 
however,  took  refuge  in  the  upper  storey  of  a  house 
belonging  to  one  of  the  lambardars  of  the  village,  and 
defended  themselves  desperately.  They  were  eventually 
overpowered  and  destroyed,  but  not  without  considerable 
difficulty  and  several  casualties  on  our  side,  Lieutenant 
H.  Gough  and  seven  men  being  wounded.  I  subsequently 
caused  those  of  the  captured  who  were  proved,  on  inquiry, 
to  have  been  in  the  service  of  Government  and  to  have 
joined  the  rebels,  to  be  executed."  1 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Lieutenant  Hugh  Gough 
owed  his  life  to  his  brother  Charles,  who  was  then  serving 
with  the  Guides.  Gough  himself  had  climbed  by  a  ladder 
up  to  the  roof  of  the  house  in  which  a  number  of  mutineers 
had  taken  refuge,  while  some  of  his  party  forced  their 
way  inside.  "  When  the  enemy  made  their  desperate 
rush,"  says  Sir  Hugh  Gough,  "  I  was  rather  in  the  fore- 
front of  the  party  awaiting  them,  and  in  the  melee  which 
took  place  I  was  forced  backwards,  and,  suddenly  making 
a  false  step  from  the  roof  on  to  a  lower  roof  about  a 
foot  down,  fell  or  was  forced  on  my  knees.  While  thus 
half  falling,  one  man  made  a  cut  at  me  with  his  heavy 
sword,  which  cut  right  down  my  riding-boot.  Another 
was  aiming  a  better-directed  blow,  when  my  brother, 
seeing  my  danger,  rushed  forward  and  attacked  the  two, 
killing  both,  and  thus  undoubtedly  saved  my  life."  2 

On  the  morning  of  the  i6th,  Hodson  marched  on  to 
Bohar,  five  miles  short  of  Rohtak.  Here  he  had  hoped 
to  "  harass  a  la  Cosaque  a  large  party  of  horsemen  and 
foot,  with  two  guns,  who  have  been  moving  along  from 
Delhi,  plundering  the  wretched  villagers  en  route,  and 
threatening  to  attack  Hansi.  They,  however,  thought 
discretion  the  better  part  of  valour,  and  hearing  of  our 
approach,  started  off  at  a  tangent  before  we  got  near 
enough  to  stop  them. 

"  We  have  been  drenched  with  rain,  so  I  am  halting 

1  Forrest's  Selections. 
*  Sir  H.  Cough's  Old  Memories. 


Before  Delhi  183 

to  dry  and  feed  both  men  and  horses,  and  then  we  go  on 
to  Rohtak." 

On  the  morning  of  the  i7th,  Hodson  moved  on  to 
Rohtak,  the  chief  civil  station  of  the  district  which  bears 
its  name.  "  On  reaching  Rohtak,"  he  writes  to  his  wife, 
"  we  found  the  Mussulman  portion  of  the  people  and  a 
crowd  of  Irregulars  drawn  up  on  the  walls,  while  a  con- 
siderable party  were  on  a  mound  outside.  I  had  ridden 
forward  with  Captain  Ward  and  a  few  orderlies  to  see 
how  the  land  lay,  when  the  rascals  fired  and  ran  towards 
us.  I  sent  word  for  my  cavalry  to  come  up,  and  rode 
slowly  back  myself  in  order  to  tempt  them  out,  which 
had  partly  the  desired  effect,  and  as  soon  as  my  leading 
troop  came  up,  we  dashed  at  them  and  drove  them  helter- 
skelter  into  the  town,  killing  all  we  overtook.  We  then 
encamped  in  what  was  the  kutcherry  compound,  and  had 
a  grateful  rest  and  a  quiet  night.  The  representatives 
of  the  better-disposed  part  of  the  population  came  out 
to  me,  and  amply  provided  us  with  supplies  for  both  man 
and  beast." 

But  a  yet  more  trying  ordeal  awaited  Hodson  and  his 
little  force.  About  7  A.M.  of  the  i8th,  he  learned  that 
Babar  Khan  had  brought  into  Rohtak  a  body  of  300 
Rangar  horsemen,  who  a  few  minutes  later  were  seen 
dashing  out  from  the  town  towards  Hodson's  camp, 
followed  by  some  900  footmen,  armed  with  swords  and 
matchlocks.  A  small  party  of  Jhind  horsemen  coming 
up  at  that  moment  to  reinforce  Hodson  were  in  time  to 
receive  and  check  the  brunt  of  the  rebel  onset. 

Meanwhile  Hodson,  who  had  kept  his  horses  ready 
saddled,  lost  no  time  in  turning  out  his  men.  With 
twenty  of  these  he  charged  the  assailants,  and  drove 
them  back  in  disorder  towards  the  town.  "  Directly  the 
whole  detachment,"  to  quote  from  his  own  despatch, 
"  was  ready  and  formed  up,  I  sent  what  little  baggage 
and  followers  we  had  to  the  rear  under  a  sufficient  escort, 
and  prepared  for  a  further  attack.  I  formed  the  main 
body  on  the  road  in  three  lines,  the  Guides  in  front,  send- 
ing a  troop  out  to  the  right  front  under  Lieutenant  Wise, 
and  one  to  the  left  under  Lieutenant  M'Dowell,  ready 
to  take  the  enemy  in  flank,  should  they  again  charge  up 


1 84  Major  W.  Hodson 

the  roads  (of  which  there  are  three  leading  from  the 
town  to  our  position).  These  movements  were  covered 
by  skirmishers,  and  by  the  excellent  fire  of  the  Jhind 
horsemen  armed  with  matchlocks,  whom  I  desired  to 
dismount  and  drive  back  by  their  fire  any  part  of  the 
enemy  who  might  come  from  under  shelter  of  the  build- 
ings. This  service  they  performed  exceedingly  well  and 
most  cheerfully." 

Finding  that  his  ammunition  was  nearly  exhausted, 
and  seeing  that  nothing  could  be  gained  by  fighting 
against  walls  lined  with  matchlockmen,  he  "  determined 
to  draw  them  out  into  the  open  country  behind  our 
position,  and  endeavour  to  bring  on  a  fight  there." 

This  perilous  manoeuvre,  on  which  Hodson  may  be 
said  to  have  staked  his  fame  as  a  great  military  leader, 
was  carried  out  with  brilliant  success.  It  was  a  manoeuvre 
which  would  have  tasked  the  steadiness  of  tried  veterans, 
and  two-thirds  of  his  men  were  little  better  than  raw 
recruits.  But  Hodson  knew  that  his  untrained  sowars 
could  be  trusted  to  go  wherever  the  Guides  and  his 
English  officers  might  point  the  way. 

"  Everything,"  he  says  in  his  despatch,  "  turned  out 
as  I  had  anticipated.  My  men  withdrew  slowly  and 
deliberately  by  alternate  troops  (the  troop  nearest  the 
enemy  by  alternate  ranks)  along  the  line  of  the  Bohar 
road,  by  which  we  had  reached  Rohtak,  our  left  extend- 
ing towards  the  main  road  to  Delhi.  The  Jhind  horse- 
men protected  our  right,  and  a  troop  of  my  own  regiment 
the  left.  The  enemy  moved  out  the  instant  we  withdrew, 
following  us  in  great  numbers,  yelling  and  shouting  and 
keeping  up  a  heavy  fire  of  matchlocks. 

"  Their  horsemen  were  principally  on  their  right,  and 
a  party  galloping  up  the  main  road  threatened  our  left 
flank.  I  continued  to  retire  until  we  got  into  open  and 
comparatively  dry  ground,  and  then  turned  and  charged 
the  mass  who  had  come  to  within  from  150  to  200  yards 
of  us. 

"  The  Guides,  who  were  nearest  to  them,  were  upon 
them  in  an  instant,  closely  followed  by,  and  soon  inter- 
mixed with,  my  own  men. 

"  The  enemy  stood  for  a  few  seconds,  turned,  and 


Before  Delhi  185 

then  were  driven  back  in  utter  confusion  to  the  very 
walls  of  the  town,  it  being  with  some  difficulty  that  the 
officers  could  prevent  their  men  entering  the  town  with 
the  fugitives.  Fifty  of  the  enemy,  all  horsemen,  were 
killed  on  the  ground,  and  many  must  have  been  wounded."' 

"  Nothing,"  he  adds,  "  could  be  better  than  the  conduct 
of  all  concerned.  The  Guide  Cavalry  behaved  with  their 
usual  dashing  gallantry,  and  their  example  was  well 
emulated  by  the  men  of  my  new  regiment,  now  for  the 
first  time  engaged  with  an  enemy.  They  not  only 
remained  under  fire  unflinchingly,  but  retired  before  the 
enemy  steadily  and  deliberately,  and  when  ordered,  turned 
and  charged  home  boldly.  It  would  have  been  hopeless 
to  expect  this  but  for  the  magnificent  leading  and  admir- 
able management  of  the  officers  in  command  of  the 
several  troops — Captain  Ward  and  Lieutenants  M'Dowell, 
Wise,  C.  J.  Gough,  and  H.  Gough.  The  difficulty  of  their 
task  will  be  appreciated  when  it  is  remembered  that, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Guides,  none  of  the  party  had 
been  drilled  or  formed  or  knew  anything  of  field  move- 
ments." 

That  night  the  rebels  cleared  out  of  Rohtak  and  took 
refuge  in  the  neighbouring  villages.  On  the  iQth,  Hodson 
halted  at  a  village  on  the  north  side  of  Rohtak  to  take  in 
supplies,  and  to  receive  a  reinforcement  of  eighty  well- 
equipped  horsemen  from  Jhind,  "  whom  my  good  friend 
the  Rajah  sent  as  soon  as  he  heard  I  was  coming  Rohtak- 
wards.  So  I  have  now  400  horsemen,  more  or  less,  fresh 
ammunition  having  come  in  this  morning,  and  am  quite 
independent." 

Meanwhile  a  rumour  had  reached  Wilson's  camp  that 
Hodson  had  been  driven  by  superior  numbers  to  take 
refuge  within  the  walls  of  the  jail  at  Rohtak.  The  con- 
sequent alarm  was  not  shared  by  the  Civil  Commissioner,, 
Hervey  Greathed.  "  I  have  such  confidence,"  he  wrote, 
"  in  Hodson's  audacity  and  resource,  and  it  turned  out 
he  was  skirmishing  with  the  enemy  between  the  jail  and 
another  building. 

"  In  the  evening  a  letter  came  from  him  describing  his. 
position.  He  had  seduced  the  enemy  out  into  a  plain, 
and  then  driven  them  back  pell-mell:  he  then  withdrew 


1 86  Major  W.  Hodson 

on  the  Gohanah  road,  in  the  direction  of  Jhind,  and  was 
in  communication  with  the  Jhind  authorities."  l 

With  reference  to  the  rumour  mentioned  above,  Hodson 
"  cannot  sufficiently  condemn  the  idle  tongues  and  foolish 
brains  that  concocted  such  absurd  stories  about  me  in 
the  Rohtak  business.  We  were  never  in  any  extremity 
whatever,  nor  did  I  ever  feel  the  slightest  anxiety,  or 
cease  to  feel  that  I  was  master  of  the  situation.  Danger 
there  must  always  be  in  war,  but  none  of  our  own  creat- 
ing, as  the  fools  and  fearful  said,  ever  existed." 

On  the  evening  of  the  igth,  he  received  Wilson's  order 
recalling  him  to  the  camp  before  Delhi.  Marching 
leisurely  back,  he  reached  Sonpat  on  the  2ist.  On  the 
evening  of  the  22nd  he  got  a  note  from  General  Wilson 
"  desiring  me  to  look  out  for  and  destroy  the  loth  Light 
Cavalry  mutineers  from  Firozpur.  He  authorised  my 
proceeding  to  Jhind,  but  without  going  through  the 
Rohtak  district.  Now,  as  to  do  this  would  involve  an 
immense  detour,  and  ensure  my  being  too  late,  and  con- 
sequently having  a  long  and  fatiguing  march  for  my 
pains,  I  wrote  back  to  explain  this,  and  requested  more 
definite  instructions.  He  must  either  say  distinctly  '  do 
this  or  that,'  and  I  will  do  it;  or  he  must  give  me  carte 
blanche  to  do  what  he  wants  in  the  most  practicable  way, 
of  which  I,  knowing  the  country,  can  best  judge.  I  am 
not  going  to  fag  my  men  and  horses  to  death,  and  then 
be  told  I  have  exceeded  my  instructions.  He  gives  me 
immense  credit  for  what  I  have  done,  but  '  almost  wishes 
I  had  not  ventured  so  far.'  The  old  gentleman  means 
well,  but  does  not  understand  either  the  country  or  the 
position  I  was  in,  nor  does  he  appreciate  a  tenth  part  of 
the  effects  which  our  bold  stroke  at  Rohtak,  forty-five 
miles  from  camp,  has  produced.  N'importe,  they  will 
find  it  out  sooner  or  later.  I  hear  both  Chamberlain  and 
Nicholson  took  my  view  of  the  case,  and  supported  me 
warmly." 

Meanwhile  Charles  Thomason  was  proceeding  on  duty 

along  the  Grand  Trunk  road  "  very,  very  down  at  the 

sad  news  "  of  the  supposed  disaster  at  Rohtak,  "  when 

looking  up,  I  saw  some  native  cavalry  coming  along  the 

1  Greathed's  Letters. 


Before  Delhi  187 

road  towards  me.  I  was  not  at  all  sure  who  they  were, 
but  went  on  my  way  until  we  met,  when,  to  my  delight, 
I  recognised  Hodson  and  M'Dowell  chatting  jovially 
together  at  the  head  of  '  Hodson's  Horse.'  Mutual  salu- 
tations followed,  something  in  this  fashion:  '  Hulloa, 
William,  is  that  you?  I  just  heard  before  leaving  camp 
that  you  and  all  your  men  had  been  annihilated  at 
Rohtak.' 

"  '  Not  a  bit  of  it,  Charlie/  was  the  reply;  '  you  don't 
catch  a  weasel  asleep,  and  here,  as  you  see,  we  are,  as 
merry  as  grigs.  Fact  is,  Mac  and  I  have  been  playing 
at  William  the  Conqueror  and  the  battle  of  Hastings,' — 
and  then  he  told  me  of  the  whole  fight,  now  a  brilliant 
page  of  English  history." 

On  the  24th,  Hodson  arrived  in  camp,  "  looking,"  says 
Greathed,  "  as  fresh  as  possible."  In  this  case,  however, 
appearances  were  deceitful,  as  the  following  letter  to  his 
wife  will  show: — 

"  I  returned  here  this  morning  very  tired  and  unwell, 
and  not  able  to  write  much,  for  I  have  been  obliged  to 
have  recourse  to  the  doctor.  I  am  to  have  a  surgeon 
attached  to  my  regiment  at  once,  as  I  represented  how 
cruel  it  was  to  send  us  out  on  an  expedition  without  a 
doctor  or  a  grain  of  medicine.  We  had  eight  wounded 
men,  and  two  officers  had  fever  on  the  road,  and  nothing 
but  the  most  primitive  means  of  relieving  them.  .  .  . 

"  Nicholson  has  just  gone  out  to  look  after  a  party  of 
the  enemy  with  twelve  guns,  who  had  moved  out  yesterday 
towards  Najafgarh,  threatening  to  get  into  our  rear.  I 
wanted  to  have  gone  with  him;  but  I  was  laughingly 
told  to  stay  at  home  and  nurse  myself,  and  let  some  one 
else  have  a  chance  of  doing  good  service.  This  was  too 
bad,  especially  as  Nicholson  wished  me  to  go." 

Hodson's  services  on  this  occasion  were  warmly  acknow- 
ledged by  General  Wilson: — 

"  Lieutenant  Hodson  most  fully  carried  out  my  in- 
structions to  my  entire  satisfaction,  and  his  report  will 
show  that  the  whole  of  his  detachment,  both  officers  and 
men,  behaved  throughout  in  the  most  gallant  and  effectual 
manner. 

"  It  must  have  been  most  gratifying  to  Lieutenant 


1 88  Major  W.  Hodson 

Hodson  to  find  his  new  regiment  so  steady  and  staunch 
in  their  first  engagement  with  the  enemy."  1 

To  one  incident  in  that  memorable  ride  to  Rohtak 
especial  reference  must  be  made,  because  it  supplied  a 
handle  for  one  of  those  calumnies  which  pursued  Hodson's 
memory  long  after  his  death.  Among  the  prisoners  taken 
at  Kharkauda  was  one  Bisharat  Ali,  a  risaldar,  or  troop 
commander,  of  the  ist  Irregular  Cavalry.  This  man 
having  been  caught,  as  it  were,  red-handed  in  a  village 
full  of  armed  mutineers,  was  summarily  tried  and  shot. 
His  execution  under  such  conditions  excited  no  surprise 
or  comment  in  Wilson's  camp.  "  As  there  was  no  doubt 
of  his  disloyalty,  rendered  more  open  and  declared  by  the 
resistance  of  his  men,  who  were  all  of  his  own  regi- 
ment, Hodson  was  quite  justified  in  his  action,  and  the 
native  officer  and  those  with  him  fully  deserved  their 
fate."  2 

It  is  true  that  Bisharat  Ali  had  lately  been  decorated 
with  the  Order  of  Merit  by  Norman's  own  hands,  and 
that  Major  (now  General)  Crawford  Chamberlain  held 
strong  convictions  in  favour  of  his  innocence ;  but  it  was 
a  time  when  the  best-grounded  belief  and  the  strongest 
certificates  of  sepoy  loyalty  were  apt  to  be  wholly  stulti- 
fied by  patent  facts. 

The  Rev.  G.  H.  Hodson  tells  us  that  Risaldar  Isri 
Singh  of  the  igth  Bengal  Lancers,  who  had  come  to 
England  for  the  Queen's  Jubilee  in  1887,  made  the  follow- 
ing statement  to  a  general  officer  with  whom  he  had  long 
been  acquainted:  "  That  he  lived  when  young  in  or  near 
Bisharat  All's  village,  and  remembered  him  well,  and 
how  he  used  to  boast  that  he  could  make  the  Sahib-log 
believe  what  he  chose ;  that  it  was  notorious  that  he  was 
a  very  dangerous  character,  disseminating  rebel  doctrines, 
and  preparing  to  take  a  leading  part  in  the  event  of  the 
rebellion  succeeding,  while  keeping  ostensibly  on  good 
terms  with  the  authorities,  and  hoodwinking  them.  Isri 
Singh  had  never  heard  Major  Hodson's  conduct  in  shoot- 
ing him  called  in  question. 

"  The  same  officer  had  been  told  previously  by  a  native 
officer  of  Hodson's  Horse,  who  was  present  on  the  occasion, 
1  Forrest's  Selections.  2  Cough's  Memories. 


Before  Delhi  189 

that  no  one  doubted  the  guilt  of  the  condemned  man, 
and  all  considered  his  death  a  mere  act  of  justice." 

It  is  also  true  that  Bisharat  AH  had  once  stood  Hodson's 
security  for  a  loan  from  his  regimental  bank.  This  loan, 
however,  had  long  since  been  repaid,  and  Hodson  was 
certainly  not  the  man  to  let  past  obligations  stand  in  the 
way  of  his  imperative  duty  towards  a  convicted  mutineer. 
As  the  writer  in  Blackwood  justly  remarks,  "  He  was 
found  in  the  midst  of  a  hotbed  of  rebels,  with  whom  he 
was  evidently  on  friendly  terms,  or  he  could  not  have 
remained  there  alive;  and  that  too  not  within  a  few  days 
or  weeks  of  the  outbreak  of  the  Mutiny,  but  at  the  end 
of  August,  long  before  which  time  every  soldier  who  was 
loyal  to  the  British  Government  had  been  summoned  to 
rejoin  his  regiment.  Under  these  circumstances,  and  at 
such  a  time,  any  officer  who  did  his  duty  would  have  acted 
as  Hodson  did."  x 

Moreover,  at  such  a  crisis  no  half  measures  were  really 
possible.  Hodson,  in  truth,  had  no  alternative  between 
dooming  his  prisoner  to  instant  death  and  setting  him 
free  to  plot  further  mischief  against  the  Government 
whose  salt  he  had  eaten. 

In  connection  with  Hodson's  work  at  this  period  the 
following  letter  from  an  officer  who  served  at  Delhi  may 
fitly  be  introduced: — 

"  The  way  Hodson  used  to  work  was  quite  miraculous. 
He  was  a  slighter  man  and  lighter  weight  than  I  am. 
Then  he  had  that  most  valuable  gift  of  being  able  to  get 
refreshing  sleep  on  horseback.  I  have  been  out  with 
him  all  night  following  and  watching  the  enemy,  when 
he  has  gone  off  dead  asleep,  waking  up  after  an  hour  as 
fresh  as  a  lark ;  whereas,  if  I  went  to  sleep  in  the  saddle, 
the  odds  were  I  fell  off  on  my  nose. 

"  He  was  the  very  perfection  of  a  '  free-lance,'  and 
such  an  Intelligence  officer!  He  used  to  know  what  the 
rebels  had  for  dinner  in  Delhi. 

"  In  a  fight  he  was  glorious.     If  there  was  only  a  good 

hard  scrimmage  he  was  as  happy  as  a  king.     A  beautiful 

swordsman,  he  never  failed  to  kill  his  man;  and  the  way 

he  used  to  play  with  the  most  brave  and  furious  of  these 

1  Blackwood' s  Magazine  for  March  1899. 


190  Major  W.  Hodson 

rebels  was  perfect.  I  fancy  I  see  him  now,  smiling, 
laughing,  parrying  most  fearful  blows  as  calmly  as  if  he 
were  brushing  off  flies,  calling  out  all  the  time,  '  Why,  try 
again  now  ' ;  '  What's  that  ?  '  '  Do  you  call  yourself  a 
swordsman?  '  etc. 

"  The  way  that  in  a  pursuit  he  used  to  manage  his 
hog-spear  was  miraculous.  It  always  seemed  to  me  that 
he  bore  a  charmed  life,  and  so  the  enemy  thought. 

"  His  judgment  was  as  great  as  his  courage,  and  the 
heavier  the  fire  or  the  greater  the  difficulty,  the  more 
calm  and  reflecting  he  became."  x 

While  Hodson  was  chafing  in  his  tent  under  the  illness 
which  forbade  his  taking  part  in  Nicholson's  famous 
march  against  a  large  body  of  rebels  eager  to  intercept 
a  siege-train  on  its  way  down  from  Umbala,  the  one 
great  leader  under  whom  he  would  have  been  proud  to 
serve  had  beaten  "  the  enemy  gloriously  at  Najafgarh, 
whither,"  writes  Hodson  on  the  26th,  "  he  pushed  on  last 
evening.  He  has  taken  thirteen  guns  and  all  the  camp 
equipage  and  property.  Our  loss  was  small  for  the  gain, 
but  one  of  the  killed  was  an  officer — young  Lumsden  of 
Coke's  Corps,  a  most  promising  fellow.  The  victory  is 
a  great  one,  and  will  shake  the  Pandies'  nerves,  I  calculate. 
All  their  shot  and  ammunition  were  also  captured.  The 
ist  Fusiliers  were  as  usual  '  to  the  fore,'  and  did  equally 
well  as  usual.  I  am  much  disappointed  at  not  having 
been  there;  but  Mactier  would  not  hear  of  it,  as  the 
weather  was  bad,  and  I  should  have  run  the  risk  of 
another  attack  of  dysentery,  from  which  I  have  been 
suffering." 

There  was  great  rejoicing  throughout  the  camp  over 
the  hardest  blow  which  had  yet  been  struck  at  the  Delhi 
mutineers,  by  a  regimental  captain  of  thirty-four  years, 
who  had  once  more  proved  his  fitness  for  high  com- 
mand. 

On  the  day  of  Nicholson's  return  to  camp  Hodson 
welcomed  the  arrival  of  two  more  troops  of  recruits  for 
his  own  regiment.  "  Such  an  experiment,"  he  says  with 
just  pride,  "  as  raising  a  regiment  actually  in  camp  on 
active  (and  very  active)  service  was  never  tried  before." 
1  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse. 


Before  Delhi  191 

On  the  28th,  he  hears  that  "  Havelock  has  retreated, 
leaving  Lucknow  still  unrelieved.  I  cannot  understand 
this,  but  we  have  not  sufficient  information  to  enable  us 
to  judge.  After  all,  Nicholson  is  the  general  after  my 
heart." 

Towards  the  end  of  August  the  sickness  in  camp  had 
greatly  increased,  and  on  the  last  day  of  the  month  2368 
men  were  in  hospital.  "  Nothing  is  going  on  here  of 
public  importance,"  writes  Hodson  on  September  3, 
"  and  everything  is  stagnant  save  the  hand  of  the  destroy- 
ing angel  of  sickness:  we  have  at  this  moment  2500  in 
hospital,  of  whom  noo  are  Europeans,  out  of  a  total  of 
5000  men  (Europeans),  and  yet  our  general  waits  for  this 
and  that  arrival,  forgetful  that  each  succeeding  day 
diminishes  his  force  by  more  than  the  strength  of  the 
expected  driblets.  He  talks  now  of  awaiting  the  arrival 
of  three  weak  regiments  of  Gulab  Singh's  force  under 
Richard  Lawrence,  who  are  marching  from  Umbala. 
Before  they  arrive,  if  the  general  really  does  wait  for 
them,  we  shall  have  an  equivalent  to  their  numbers 
sickened  and  dying  from  the  delay  in  this  plague  spot. 
'  Delhi  in  September  '  is  proverbial,  and  this  year  we 
seem  likely  to  realise  its  full  horrors.  The  train  will  be 
here  to-morrow  or  next  day,  and  I  hope  our  general  will 
not  lose  a  day  after  that." 

On  September  4,  the  long  train  of  heavy  guns  and 
mortars  drawn  by  elephants,  followed  by  miles  of  bullock- 
carts  laden  with  shot,  shells,  and  ammunition  of  all  kinds, 
was  escorted  safely  into  camp  by  Bourchier's  battery 
and  two  squadrons  of  the  gth  Lancers.  "  The  supply  of 
shot  and  shell,"  says  Greathed,  "  seems  sufficient  to  grind 
Delhi  to  powder."  The  arrival  of  those  sixty  guns, 
howitzers,  and  mortars,  preceded  or  followed  by  a  few 
hundred  fresh  troops  from  the  Punjab,  Firozpur,  and 
Meerut,  filled  every  heart  in  camp  with  the  promise  of 
a  glorious  ending  to  the  toils,  struggles,  and  anxieties 
of  the  past  three  months. 

All  through  that  first  week  of  September  nearly  the 
whole  of  Wilson's  troops  were  employed  in  making  ready 
for  the  assault  which  our  heavy  guns  would  shortly  open 
against  the  doomed  city,  where  mutiny  and  murder  had 


192  Major  W.  Hodson 

run  riot  upon  that  woeful  Monday  in  May.  "  To-night/' 
says  Hodson,  writing  on  the  6th,  "  I  believe  the  engineers 
are  really  to  begin  work  constructing  batteries,  so  that 
in  two  or  three  days  Delhi  ought  to  be  taken.  If  General 
Wilson  delays  now,  he  will  have  nothing  left  to  take:  all 
the  sepoys  will  be  off  to  their  homes,  or  into  Rohilkhand, 
or  into  Gwalior." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   STORMING  OF  DELHI.      SEPTEMBER    1857 

NIGHT  after  night  from  September  7,  a  fresh  battery  was 
traced,  erected,  and  armed  with  its  due  proportion  of 
heavy  guns,  howitzers,  and  mortars.  Each  succeeding 
day  a  new  battery  began  to  pound  the  walls  or  hurl  its 
shells  among  the  outworks  of  the  imperial  city.  On  the 
morning  of  the  i2th  some  fifty  of  our  heavy  guns  and 
mortars  were  in  full  play  upon  the  crumbling  walls  and 
bastions,  giving  the  enemy  no  rest  from  their  deadly  hail 
until  the  morning  of  the  i4th,  when  the  storming  columns 
were  formed  up  for  the  final  assault. 

During  that  week  of  intense  excitement,  Hodson  spent 
all  his  leisure  moments  among  the  trenches.  An  artillery 
officer  afterwards  told  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Hodson  that  even 
when  his  brother  might  have  taken  rest  he  would  go 
instead  to  work  in  the  batteries,  and  "  exposed  himself 
constantly  in  order  to  relieve  some  fainting  gunner  or 
wounded  man." 1  From  the  trenches  he  would  ride  out 
with  his  men  against  parties  of  rebel  horsemen,  who  fled 
promptly  back  to  the  cover  whence  they  had  emerged. 
On  the  i3th,  he  rejoiced  to  learn  that  at  Nicholson's 
own  request  he  was  to  accompany  the  column  which 
Nicholson,  after  the  capture  of  Delhi,  would  lead  in 
pursuit  of  the  mutineers.  "  I  am  very  glad  for  my  own 
sake,"  he  writes,  "  that  I  am  to  go  on,  for  this  place  is 
dreadfully  unhealthy,  and  I  feel  that  I  shall  certainly  be 
ill  if  I  remain  here  much  longer.  In  fact,  I  had  made  up 
my  mind  not  to  remain  if  possible,  and  when  Nicholson 
urged  my  going  on  with  him  I  was  only  too  ready  to 
second  the  motion,  for  I  am  able  to  work  and  to  fight, 
and  I  must  do  so  as  long  as  I  can." 

On  the  evening  of  the  i3th,  it  was  known  in  camp  that 
Delhi  would  be  assaulted  on  the  morrow,  and  that  one 
1  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse. 

I93  N 


194  Major  W.  Hodson 

of  the  storming  columns  would  be  led  by  the  all-daring 
Nicholson  himself.  "  We  had  been  so  long  sitting  before 
this  doomed  city/'  says  Sir  H.  Gough,  "  in  the  most 
trying  heat  and  with  apparently  fruitless  labour,  that 
the  immediate  hopes  of  an  end  gave  us  all  a  most 
pleasurable  feeling.  Knowing,  as  all  did,  that  a  desperate 
struggle  was  at  hand,  few  probably  felt  anything  but 
intense  excitement  and  delight." 

On  that  same  evening,  Hugh  Gough  himself  happened 
to  have  a  talk  with  one  of  his  native  officers,  Risaldar 
Man  Singh,  a  fine  old  Sikh,  who  had  fought  against  us 
both  in  the  Satlaj  and  the  Punjab  campaigns.  "  We 
discussed  the  question  of  to-morrow's  big  fight.  As  the 
old  man  was  fond  of  telling  the  story  even  to  his  dying 
day,  to  my  own  boys  amongst  others,  it  runs  in  his  words 
as  follows :  '  Gough  Sahib  came  to  me  on  the  day  before 
the  assault  and  said,  "  Man  Singh,  there  is  going  to  be  a 
great  battle  to-morrow,  and  we  are  going  to  take  Delhi. 
Hodson  says  he  will  ride  to  Jehannum  after  the  Pandies. 
I  wonder  how  it  will  end."  I  said  to  Gough  Sahib, 
"Well,  sahib,  wherever  Hodson  goes  we'll  all  go"; 
whereupon  Gough  Sahib  said,  "  Well,  Man  Singh,  salaam; 
then  we'll  all  go  to  Jehannum  together."  ' 

"  I  cannot  vouch  for  the  strict  accuracy  of  this  story, 
but  one  and  all  of  us  were  prepared  to  follow  Hodson  to 
the  very  death,  and  I  am  sure  there  was  not  a  desponding 
heart  in  the  whole  force." 1 

The  morning  of  that  sultry  i4th  of  September  dawned 
upon  three  columns  of  British  and  native  foot  ready  at 
all  costs  to  fight  their  perilous  way  inside  the  northern  face 
of  the  great  rebel  stronghold,  which  many  of  their  number 
had  been  looking  at  so  longingly  for  more  than  three 
months  past.  Every  man  there,  from  John  Nicholson 
down  to  the  youngest  private,  knew  how  much  depended 
on  the  issue  of  what  General  Wilson  mournfully  regarded 
as  a  gambler's  throw. 

"  If  we  fail,  we  fail; 

But  screw  your  courage  to  the  sticking- place, 
And  we'll  not  fail," 

was  the  feeling  which  braced  every  other  heart  in  Wilson's 
1  Cough's  Old  Memories. 


The  Storming  of  Delhi          195 

heroic  force,  emptying  the  hospitals  of  men  eager  to  share 
in  the  coming  struggle,  or  at  least  to  relieve  their  healthier 
comrades  from  the  work  of  guarding  a  half-deserted 
camp. 

Meanwhile  a  fourth  column,  composed  of  Reid's  war- 
loving  Gurkhas,  the  Guide  infantry,  and  a  few  score  of 
white  soldiers  withdrawn  for  the  time  from  picket  duty, 
aided  on  their  right  by  Richard  Lawrence's  Kashmir 
Contingent,  was  ordered  to  advance  against  the  Kishn- 
ganj  suburb,  where  a  strong  body  of  rebels  had  taken 
up  their  post.  The  advance  of  this  column  over  very 
difficult  ground,  under  a  galling  fire  of  guns  and  musketry, 
was  soon  checked  by  the  fall  of  its  gallant  leader,  Major 
(afterwards  Sir  Charles)  Reid,  who  was  carried  off  severely 
wounded  from  the  field.  The  Kashmiris  on  the  right  were 
driven  back  in  hopeless  disorder  with  the  loss  of  four 
guns.  After  some  hard  fighting  the  rest  of  Reid's  column 
fell  back  to  their  old  positions  in  the  Sabzi  Mandi. 

By  this  time — about  7  A.M. — Hope  Grant's  cavalry, 
about  600  strong,  who  had  been  drawn  up  that  morning 
along  the  ridge  in  front  of  Delhi,  were  speeding  towards 
Kishnganj  in  order  to  prevent  the  rebels  there  posted 
from  re-entering  the  city  and  impeding  the  progress  of 
our  victorious  troops  inside.  On  taking  up  their  new 
postion  they  encountered,  says  Gough,  "  a  most  severe 
fire  of  round-shot,  shrapnel,  and  grape  from  the  walls, 
to  which  we  could  only  reply  by  an  equally  determined 
fire  from  our  guns,  of  which,  I  think,  we  had  ten  in 
action."  l 

It  was  then  that  Hope  Grant  "  saw  Brigadier  Nicholson 
on  the  top  of  the  Mori  Bastion  leading  on  his  brigade. 
He  called  out  to  me  that  the  fighting  was  going  on  well 
for  us  in  the  town,  and  that  he  was  on  his  way  to  attack 
the  Lahore  gate  and  bastion,  about  500  yards  farther  on. 
Forward  he  went;  but  the  gate  was  defended  so  obstinately 
that  he  could  not  dislodge  the  enemy;  he  himself  was 
mortally  wounded,  shot  through  the  body,  and  his  brigade 
was  obliged  to  retire." 

"  A  few  men,"  he  adds,  "  of  the  gth  Lancers  who  had 
learned  to  serve  guns  were  dismounted;  they  scrambled 
1  Hugh  Cough's  Old  Memories. 


196  Major  W.  Hodson 

up  the  breach  in  the  Mori  Bastion,  and  directed  the 
abandoned  guns  with  great  effect  against  the  rebels,  who 
were  at  this  time  advancing  to  attack  us.  But  the 
failure  at  the  Lahore  Bastion  left  its  defenders  at  liberty 
to  assume  the  offensive.  They  turnd  a  24-pounder  gun 
against  us,  and  with  grape  inflicted  a  terrible  loss  on  our 
men,  who  were  not  more  than  500  yards  distant.  Tombs' 
troop  lost  27  men  out  of  48,  and  19  horses.  Two  guns 
of  a  battery  under  Lieutenant  Campbell  suffered  in  pro- 
portion ;  the  200  men  of  the  gth  Lancers  had  42  men  and 
6 1  horses  killed  or  wounded;  and  the  Guide  cavalry, 
which  was  in  support,  15  men  and  19  horses."  1 

"  For  more  than  two  hours,"  writes  Hodson,  whose 
own  men  formed  part  of  Hope  Grant's  force,  "  we  had 
to  sit  on  our  horses  under  the  heaviest  fire  troops  are 
often  exposed  to,  and  that,  too,  without  the  chance  of 
doing  anything  but  preventing  the  enemy  coming  on.  ... 
My  young  regiment  behaved  admirably,  as  did  all  hands. 
The  loss  of  the  party  was,  of  course,  very  severe.  .  .  . 

"  I  am  most  humbly  and  heartily  grateful  to  a  merciful 
Providence  that  I  was  spared." 

An  officer  who  was  present  during  this  sharp  ordeal 
wrote  thus  to  his  wife:  "  I  found  time  for  admiration  of 
Hodson,  who  sat  like  a  man  carved  in  stone,  and  as  calm 
and  apparently  as  unconcerned  as  the  sentries  at  the 
Horse  Guards,  and  only  by  his  eyes  and  his  ready  hand, 
whenever  occasion  offered,  could  you  have  told  that  he 
was  in  deadly  peril,  and  the  balls  flying  amongst  us  as 
thick  as  hail." 

To  the  splendid  daring  of  our  Horse  Artillery,  and  the 
patient  courage  of  the  gth  Lancers,  Hope  Grant's  despatch 
was,  of  course,  to  bear  eloquent  witness.  But  his  praise 
was  not  reserved  for  them  alone.  "  I  have  never,"  he 
writes,  "  in  the  whole  course  of  my  life  seen  so  much 
bravery  and  so  much  noble  conduct  displayed  by  men 
as  was  the  case  in  the  brigade  I  had  the  honour  to 
command." 

Speaking  of  the  native  cavalry,  he  says:  "Nothing 
could  be  steadier,  nothing  could  be  more  soldier-like, 
than  their  bearing.  The  Guide  cavalry,  commanded  by 
1  Incidents  in  the  Sepoy  War. 


The  Storming  of  Delhi          197 

Captain  Sanford — a  most  excellent  and  useful  officer  on 
outpost  duty — lost  one  native  officer  killed,  and  one  non- 
commissioned officer  and  fourteen  privates  wounded. 
Lieutenant  Hodson  commanded  a  corps  raised  by  him- 
self, and  he  is  a  first-rate  officer,  brave,  determined,  and 
clear-headed.  Lieutenant  Watson,  commanding  the  ist 
Punjab  Cavalry,  Lieutenant  Probyn,  commanding  the 
and,  and  Lieutenant  Younghusband,  the  5th  Punjab 
Cavalry,  are  also  most  excellent  officers.  I  was  after- 
wards joined  by  Captain  Bourchier's  battery,  which  was 
of  great  service,  and  enabled  us  to  hold  our  position." l 

That  600  horsemen,  of  whom  only  a  third  were  British, 
should  have  sat  unmoved  for  two  long  hours  under  so 
fierce  a  hurricane  of  lead  and  iron,  was  a  feat  of  heroic 
endurance  surpassing  the  famous  charge  of  Cardigan's 
Light  Brigade  upon  the  Russian  guns  at  Balaklava. 
And  this  feat,  unlike  that  other,  was  rewarded  with  entire 
success.  It  was  of  vital  importance  that  the  enemy  in 
Kishnganj  should  be  held  in  check  while  our  storming 
columns  were  making  good  the  ground  they  had  won 
inside  the  city.  "  It  certainly  was  a  critical  time,"  says 
Sir  Hugh  Gough;  "  but  the  movement  had  the  desired 
effect,  and  heavily  as  our  brigade  suffered,  it  was  satis- 
factory to  know  that  we  had  done  our  duty  and  had 
borne  a  good,  if  passive,  share  in  the  day's  fighting." 

That  afternoon  Wilson  removed  his  headquarters  into 
that  part  of  Delhi  which  the  columns  led  by  Nicholson, 
Jones,  and  Campbell  had  already  won  against  fearful 
odds  at  the  cost  of  many  hundred  slain  and  wounded. 
Nicholson  himself  lay  slowly  dying  in  the  tent  to  which 
he  had  been  borne  outside  the  city, — struck  down,  as 
Hodson  wrote,  "  at  a  time  when  his  services  were  beyond 
expression  valuable."  It  was  there  that  on  the  follow- 
ing evening  Hope  Grant  found  the  hero  whom  he  "  had 
last  seen  upon  the  walls  of  Delhi  the  day  before,  vigorous 
and  animated,  leading  on  his  men  gallantly.  .  .  . 

"  He  was  like  a  noble  oak  riven  asunder  by  a  thunder- 
bolt. As  I  approached  he  looked  towards  me,  and  in  a 
deep  sepulchral  voice  said,  '  Who  are  you  ?  '  I  told  him, 
and  spoke  some  kind  words  to  him.  He  looked  again, 
1  Forrest. 


198  Major  W.  Hodson 

and  after  some  time,  with  great  difficulty,  said,  '  I  thank 
you,'  and  then  closed  his  eyes.  It  was  the  last  words  I 
heard  him  speak,  and  the  last  time  I  ever  saw  him."  1 

On  the  night  of  the  i4th,  Hodson's  Horse  bivouacked 
about  Ludlow  Castle,  between  the  city  and  the  ridge. 
On  the  1 5th,  while  our  troops  were  making  slow  but 
steady  progress  within  the  city,  Hodson  found  time  to 
assist  at  the  burial  of  the  brave  Major  Jacob,  who  had 
fallen  in  the  act  of  leading  his  men  up  the  lane  where 
Nicholson  was  struck  down.  "  He  was  a  noble  soldier," 
writes  Hodson,  "  and  delighted  us  all  by  his  bearing. 
His  death  has  made  me  a  captain,  the  long-wished-for 
goal;  but  I  would  rather  have  served  on  as  a  subaltern 
than  gain  promotion  thus.  Greville  and  Owen  are  doing 
well,  but  I  much  fear  there  is  no  hope  for  poor  Nicholson : 
his  is  a  cruel  wound,  and  his  loss  would  be  a  material 
calamity." 

On  the  1 6th,  he  writes  again:  "  I  have  just  returned 
from  a  very  long  and  terribly  hot  ride  of  some  hours  to 
ascertain  the  movements,  position,  and  line  of  retreat 
of  the  enemy,  and  I  can  do  no  more  than  report  my 
safety.  ...  All  is  going  on  well;  the  magazine  was 
carried  by  storm  this  morning  with  nominal  loss,  and 
our  guns  are  knocking  the  fort  and  palace  about.  All 
the  suburbs  have  been  evacuated  or  taken.  I  have  just 
ridden  through  them,  and  all  the  enemy's  heavy  guns 
have  been  brought  into  camp." 

In  the  same  letter  he  speaks  of  General  Wilson  as 
"  fairly  broken  down  by  fatigue  and  anxiety, — he  cannot 
stand  on  his  legs  to-day:  fortunately  Chamberlain  is 
well  enough  to  go  down  and  keep  him  straight,  and 
Colonel  Seaton  also— two  good  men,  if  he  will  be  led  by 
them." 

By  the  death  of  Major  Jacob,  Lieutenant  Hodson 
gained  not  only  his  company,  but  the  brevet-majority 
for  which  he  had  so  long  been  waiting,  as  a  reward  for 
his  services  during  the  Punjab  campaign. 

The  next  two  days  were  spent  in  strengthening  our 
front  from  the  magazine  to  the  Kabul  gate.  The  old 
Delhi  Bank  and  several  strong  buildings  were  carried 
1  Incidents  in  the  Sepoy  War. 


The  Storming  of  Delhi          199 

with  no  great  loss,  and  our  mortars  played  incessantly 
upon  the  palace  and  the  old  Pathan  fort  of  Selimgarh. 
"  Not  above  3000  or  4000  of  the  rebel  troops  remained 
in  the  city/'  wrote  Hodson  on  the  lyth.  "  Headquarters 
are  there,  and  I  am  going  down  immediately  to  take  up 
my  quarters  with  the  staff.  ...  I  am  thankful  to  say 
Nicholson  is  a  little  better  to-day,  and  there  appears 
some  hope  of  his  recovery,  though  a  very  slight  one." 

On  the  following  day  he  wrote:  "Poor  Nicholson  is 
lying  in  a  terribly  dangerous  state.  I  would  give  a  year's 
pay  to  know  he  would  recover,  so  deeply  do  we  feel  his 
loss  at  a  time  like  this." 

On  the  evening  of  the  igth,  the  Burn  Bastion,  which 
five  days  earlier  had  stayed  the  advance  of  Nicholson's 
stormers,  was  surprised  and  captured  by  a  party  from 
the  Kabul  gate.  Early  the  next  morning  the  Lahore 
gate  and  Garstin  Bastion  were  also  carried.  With  the 
bloodless  capture  of  the  palace  itself  the  whole  city  fell 
that  day  into  our  hands.  On  the  same  morning  (2oth) 
Hope  Grant  took  all  his  available  cavalry  on  a  recon- 
naissance to  the  west  of  the  city.  Hodson  of  course 
accompanied  the  brigadier,  who  had  strict  orders  not  to 
go  under  fire.  "  We  all  marched  out,"  he  says,  "  to  the 
top  of  the  hill  on  which  stands  the  '  Idgarh,'  and  thence, 
from  a  safe  and  respectful  distance,  overlooked  the  camp 
of  the  Bareilly  and  Nasirabad  force,  under  '  General ' 
Bakht  Khan,  quondam  subadar  of  artillery."  A  look 
through  his  glass,  followed  by  the  sound  of  a  loud 
explosion,  convinced  Hodson  that  the  enemy  were 
abandoning  their  camp.  On  this  fact  being  confirmed 
by  his  own  messengers  he  immediately  got  leave  to  carry 
the  news  to  General  Wilson. 

This  he  did,  "  galloping  down  along  the  front  of  the 
city  to  see  if  that  was  quite  clear.  I  then  asked  leave 
to  go  down  through  the  camp  and  see  what  was  really 
the  state  of  the  case;  and  M'Dowell  and  I  started  with 
seventy-five  men  and  rode  at  a  gallop  right  round  the  city 
to  the  Delhi  gate,  clearing  the  roads  of  plunderers  and 
suspicious-looking  objects  as  we  went.  We  found  the 
camp,  as  I  had  been  told,  empty,  and  the  Delhi  gate 
open:  we  were  there  at  u  A.-M.  at  latest,  and  it  was  not 


200  Major  W.  Hodson 

until  2  P.M.  that  the  order  was  given  for  the  cavalry  to 
move  out,  and  they  were  so  long  about  it  that  when  at 
sunset  M'Dowell  and  I  were  returning  (bringing  away 
three  guns  left  by  the  enemy,  and  having  made  arrange- 
ments and  collected  camels  for  bringing  in  the  empty 
tents,  etc.)  we  met  the  advance  guard  coming  slowly 
forward  in  grand  array !  We  had  been  on  to  the  jail  and 
old  fort,  two  or  three  miles  beyond  Delhi,  and  executed 
many  a  straggler.  I  brought  in  the  mess  plate  of  the 
6oth  Native  Infantry,  their  standards,  drums,  and  other 
things.  M'Dowell  and  I  had  been  for  five  hours  inside 
the  Delhi  gate,  hunting  about,  before  a  guard  was  sent 
to  take  charge  of  it." 

On  the  same  day  Hodson  had  been  "  much  shocked 
(even  familiar  as  I  have  become  with  death)  by  poor 
Hervey  Greathed's  sudden  death  yesterday  from  cholera : 
the  strongest  and  healthiest  man  in  camp  snatched  away 
after  a  few  hqurs'  illness.  .  .  .  What  a  harvest  of  death 
there  has  been  during  the  past  four  months,  as  if  war 
was  not  sufficiently  full  of  horrors !  .  .  .  None  but  those 
who  fought  through  the  first  six  weeks  of  the  campaign 
know  on  what  a  thread  our  lives  and  the  safety  of  the 
empire  hung,  or  can  appreciate  the  sufferings  and  exertions 
of  those  days  of  watchfulness  and  combat,  of  fearful  heat 
and  exhaustion,  of  trial  and  danger.  I  look  back  on 
them  with  a  feeling  of  almost  doubt  whether  they  were 
real  or  only  a  foul  dream.  This  day  will  be  a  memorable 
one  in  the  annals  of  the  empire :  the  restoration  of  British 
rule  in  the  East  dates  from  the  2oth  September  1857." 

"  We  now  ascertained,"  says  Sir  Hope  Grant,  "  that 
Delhi  had  been  evacuated  during  the  night.  India  was 
saved;  and  the  fearful  struggle  which  had  shaken  the 
nation  to  its  foundation  was  passing  away  like  a  heavy 
thunder-cloud  from  before  the  sun.  There  was  no  longer 
any  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  the  Punjab,  and 
we  heard  that  British  troops  were  fast  pouring  into 
Calcutta."  x 

Delhi  had  fallen,  and  the  Punjab  was  safe,  but  the  old 
king  himself  and  all  his  family,  many  of  whom  had  taken 
part  in  the  massacres  of  May  n,  were  still  at  large,  and 
1  Incidents  in  the  Sepoy  War. 


The  Storming  of  Delhi          201 

their  name  alone  might  be  a  rallying-point  for  fresh  risings 
against  our  rule.  Hodson  learned  that  the  king  had  fled 
with  a  crowd  of  followers  and  kinsfolk  to  the  tomb  of  his 
ancestor  Humayun,  about  five  miles  from  Delhi,  on  the 
road  to  the  far-famed  Kutab  Minar.  Foreseeing  the 
trouble  that  might  ensue  from  the  unhindered  escape  of 
Bahadur  Shah,  Hodson  begged  hard  for  leave  to  ride  after 
the  fugitives  and  bring  the  old  king  back  a  prisoner,  on 
the  only  terms  that  could  be  granted  him, — the  lives, 
namely,  of  himself,  his  favourite  wife,  and  her  son, 
Jamma  Bakht. 

Only  after  much  pleading  was  he  allowed  to  go  forth 
upon  his  dangerous  errand.  "  This,"  writes  Hodson, 
"  was  successfully  accomplished,  at  the  expense  of  vast 
fatigue  and  no  trifling  risk."  He  and  his  fifty  horsemen 
had  to  thread  their  way  through  miles  of  ruinous  tombs, 
palaces,  and  other  buildings  which  marked  the  site  of  Old 
Delhi.  About  a  mile  from  Humayun's  tomb  the  road 
passed  under  the  Old  Fort,  to  which  the  king  had  first 
fled  for  shelter,  and  which  was  still  thronged  with  numbers 
of  his  adherents.  Not  a  shot,  however,  was  fired  on  the 
advancing  troop. 

On  reaching  the  noble  gateway  of  the  wide  court, 
wherein  stood  the  dome-capped  glory  of  the  white  marble 
tomb,  Hodson  concealed  his  little  party  in  some  old 
buildings  hard  by.  Sending  the  faithful  Rajab  Ali  and 
another  emissary  to  negotiate  the  terms  of  surrender 
with  the  people  inside,  Hodson  himself  awaited  the  issue 
from  his  post  of  observation  near  the  gate.  After  two 
hours  of  the  most  trying  suspense  he  had  ever  known, 
his  messengers  bx  ought  him  word  that  the  king  would 
accept  the  proffered  terms  if  "  Hodson  Bahadur  "  would 
come  forth  and  repeat  with  his  own  lips  the  promise  of 
the  Government  for  his  safety.  Thereupon  Hodson 
stepped  forward  and  gave  the  needful  assurance,  adding 
that  any  attempt  at  a  rescue  would  be  punished  by  the 
immediate  death  of  the  king.  Erelong  the  train  of 
palkis  conveying  the  royal  prisoners  and  their  few  atten- 
dants passed  slowly  out  of  the  gate  closely  guarded  by 
Hodson  and  his  sowars. 

The  march  back  to  Delhi  then  began  by  a  longer  but 


202  Major  W.  Hodson 

less  dangerous  road, — the  longest  five  miles,  as  Hodson 
himself  declared,  that  he  had  ever  ridden.  For  the  greater 
portion  of  the  way  his  party  was  followed  by  a  crowd  of 
armed  and  angry  retainers,  eager,  but  yet  afraid,  to  strike 
a  blow  on  behalf  of  their  captive  lord ;  for  they  knew  that 
the  one  Englishman  riding  there  by  his  side  would  prove 
as  good  as  his  word  on  the  first  sign  of  an  attempted 
rescue.  The  English  guard  at  the  Lahore  gate  of  the 
city  were  only  prevented  from  raising  a  lusty  cheer  for 
the  daring  Englishman  by  Hodson's  assurance  that  the 
old  king  would  regard  the  honour  as  intended  for  himself. 

Passing  onward  through  the  broad  but  now  deserted 
Chandni  Chauk — the  Street  of  Silversmiths — the  party 
halted  at  the  palace  gate,  where  Hodson  made  over  his 
royal  charge  to  the  new  Commissioner,  Mr.  Charles 
Saunders,  for  safe  lodgment  in  their  former  home.  "  By 
Jove !  Hodson,"  exclaimed  the  admiring  Saunders,  "  they 
ought  to  make  you  commander-in-chief  for  this."  On 
arriving  at  Wilson's  quarters  to  report  his  success,  and 
to  deliver  up  the  royal  arms,  he  was  greeted  by  his  general 
with  the  gruff  remark,  "  Well,  I  am  glad  you  have  got  him, 
but  I  never  expected  to  see  either  him  or  you  again !  " 

The  successful  capture  of  Bahadur  Shah,  the  ostensible 
head  of  the  great  rebellion,  proved  the  fitting  sequel  to 
the  heroic  struggle  in  which  Nicholson's  stormers,  seven 
days  earlier,  had  led  the  way.  Not  content  even  with 
this  brilliant  exploit,  Hodson  urged  the  general  to  let 
him  go  forth  in  quest  of  "  the  villain  princes,"  who  had 
taken  a  leading  part  in  the  massacres  of  May.  Not  until 
the  dying  Nicholson  had  roused  himself  to  urge  the  need 
for  swift  and  stern  action  did  Wilson  bring  himself  to 
yield  a  grudging  consent.  "  But  don't  let  me  be  bothered 
with  them,"  he  grumbled  forth.  "  I  assured  him,"  says 
Hodson,  "  that  it  was  nothing  but  his  own  order  which 
'  bothered  '  him  with  the  king,  as  I  would  much  rather 
have  brought  him  into  Delhi  dead  than  living." 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  22nd,  Hodson,  with  his 
subaltern  .M'Dowell  and  a  hundred  picked  horsemen., 
started  upon  his  second  visit  to  Humayun's  tomb.  "  I 
laid  my  plans,"  writes  Hodson,  "  so  as  to  cut  off  access 
to  the  tomb  or  escape  from  it,  and  then  sent  in  one  of  the 


The  Storming  of  Delhi          203 

inferior  scions  of  the  royal  family  (purchased  for  the 
purpose  by  the  promise  of  his  life)  and  my  one-eyed 
maulvi,  Rajab  Ali,  to  say  that  I  had  come  to  seize  the 
Shahzadas  for  punishment,  and  intended  to  do  so  dead 
or  alive.  After  two  hours  of  wordy  strife  and  very 
anxious  suspense  they  appeared  and  asked  if  their  lives 
had  been  promised  by  the  Government,  to  which  I 
answered, '  Most  certainly  not,'  and  sent  them  away  from 
the  tomb  towards  the  city  under  a  guard." 

Hodson  then  proceeded  to  the  tomb,  which  was  crowded 
with  several  thousands  of  the  "  servants,  hangers-on, 
and  scum  of  the  palace  and  city."  With  characteristic 
boldness  he  ordered  them  at  once  to  surrender  their  arms 
and  baggage.  "  In  less  than  two  hours  they  brought 
forth  from  innumerable  hiding-places  some  500  swords 
and  more  than  that  number  of  firearms,  besides  horses,, 
bullocks,  and  covered  carts  called  '  ruths,'  used  by  the 
women  and  eunuchs  of  the  palace." 

Leaving  the  arms  and  animals  in  charge  of  a  small 
guard,  Hodson  hastened  to  rejoin  his  prisoners  on  their 
way  back  to  Delhi. 

"  I  came  up  just  in  time,  as  a  large  mob  had  collected 
and  were  turning  on  the  guard.  I  rode  in  among  them 
at  a  gallop,  and  in  a  few  words  I  appealed  to  the  crowd, 
saying  that  these  were  the  butchers  who  had  murdered 
and  brutally  used  helpless  women  and  children,  and  that 
the  Government  had  now  sent  their  punishment :  seizing 
a  carbine  from  one  of  my  men,  I  deliberately  shot  them 
one  after  another."  "  God  is  great!  "  was  the  cry  that 
broke  from  a  multitude  of  lips,  and  slowly  but  quietly 
the  crowd  of  awestricken  Mussulmans  melted  away. 

"  I  am  not  cruel,"  he  adds,  "  but  I  confess  I  did  rejoice 
at  the  opportunity  of  ridding  the  earth  of  these  wretches. 
I  intended  to  have  had  them  hung,  but  when  it  came  to 
a  question  of  '  they  '  or  '  us,'  I  had  no  time  for  delibera- 
tion." 

All  things  considered,  it  is  hard  to  see,  as  I  have 
remarked  elsewhere,  why  this  deed  of  summary  justice 
should  have  provoked  the  indignant  censures  of  more 
than  one  historian.  It  might  have  been  best,  for  certain 
reasons,  had  the  slaughtered  princes  lived  to  undergo  a 


204  Major  W.  Hodson 

regular  trial.  But  Hodson  had  gleaned  from  fairly  trust- 
worthy sources  evidence  which  convinced  him  of  their 
actual  guilt.  He  had  been  virtually  told  to  deal  with  them 
as  he  thought  fit.  A  man  so  brave  and  cool  in  any  crisis 
was  little  likely  to  overrate  the  danger  which  threatened 
his  small  party  from  a  crowd  of  angry  natives,  many  of 
whom  bore  arms  which  they  had  even  begun  to  use. 
To  shoot  the  princes  with  his  own  hand  seemed  only  the 
natural  act  of  one  who  saw  the  danger  of  a  moment's 
delay,  and  scorned  to  shift  upon  other  shoulders  the  risk 
or  the  burden  of  a  deed  best  done  at  such  a  moment  by 
himself.1 

"  I  heard  the  whole  story/'  says  Sir  Hugh  Gough,  who 
had  not  himself  been  present,  "  from  M'Dowell  directly 
afterwards,  and  from  Risaldar  Man  Singh,  and  other 
native  officers,  and  his  and  their  undivided  testimony 
was,  that  as  Hodson  with  his  small  escort  of  only  a 
hundred  sabres  was  approaching  Delhi,  the  natives 
crowded  round  in  such  numbers,  and  made  such  un- 
mistakable signs  of  attempting  a  rescue,  that  the  only 
step  left  was  their  death.  As  M'Dowell  said,  '  Our  own 
lives  were  not  worth  a  moment's  purchase.'  "  2 

"  Strange,"  wrote  Hodson  five  months  later,  "  that 
some  of  those  who  are  loudest  against  me  for  sparing  the 
king  are  also  crying  out  at  my  destroying  his  sons.  .  .  . 
But,  in  point  of  fact,  I  am  quite  indifferent  to  clamour 
either  way.  I  made  up  my  mind  at  the  time  to  be  abused. 
I  was  convinced  I  was  right,  and  when  I  prepared  to  run 
the  great  physical  risk  of  the  attempt,  I  was  equally  game 
for  the  moral  risk  of  praise  or  blame.  These  have  not 
been,  and  are  not,  times  when  a  man  who  would  serve 
his  country  dare  hesitate  as  to  the  personal  consequences 
to  himself  of  what  he  thinks  his  duty." 

There  is  no  doubt,  at  any  rate,  that  Hodson  and  his 
small  escort  were  in  imminent  danger  from  the  crowd 
that  pressed  around  them.  "  All  I  can  say,"  as  Dr. 
Anderson,  surgeon  to  Hodson 's  Horse,  afterwards  assured 
the  dead  man's  brother,  "  is,  that  I  dressed  the  wounds 
of  my  own  orderly,  who  came  back  with  his  ear  half 
cut  off." 

1  Trotter's  India  under  Victoria.  *  Old  Memories. 


The  Storming  of  Delhi          205 

Before  shooting  the  Shahzadas — two  sons  and  grand- 
son of  the  captive  king — Hodson  had  made  them  strip 
off  their  outer  garments,  not,  as  some  kind  people  have 
argued,  with  a  view  to  plunder,  but  merely  in  order  to 
crown  the  ignominy  of  their  doom.  "  No  one  ever  thought 
out  here,"  wrote  Sir  T.  Seaton,  "  of  asking  why  he  stripped 
the  princes,  or  rather  why  he  made  them  take  off  their 
upper  garments.  It  certainly  was  not,  as  the  French 
stupidly  assert,  '  pour  ne  pas  gater  le  butin  ' ;  for  if  the 
upper  corresponded  with  the  nether  clothes  in  which  the 
bodies  were  laid  out,  they  would  have  been  dear  at  a 
shilling  the  lot.  .  .  .  Some  people  ask,  '  Why  did  he 
shoot  them  himself?  '  To  this  I  will  reply  by  another 
question,  '  What  would  have  been  the  effect  on  that 
vast  crowd  of  a  single  moment's  hesitation  or  appearance 
of  hesitation?  '  " 

It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  the  summary  execution 
of  the  guilty  princes — for  of  their  guilt  there  was  no 
shadow  of  a  doubt — was  hailed  with  unquestioning 
approval  by  every  Englishman  in  Upper  India.  Sir 
Robert  Montgomery's  note  to  the  author  of  what  has 
since  been  called  "  a  stupid,  cold-blooded,  threefold 
murder,"  may  be  said  to  have  voiced  the  general  feeling 
of  the  day : — 

"  MY  DEAR  HODSON, — All  honour  to  you  (and  to  your 
'  Horse  ')  for  catching  the  king  and  slaying  his  sons !    I 
hope  you  will  bag  many  more! — In  haste,  ever  yours, 
"R.  MONTGOMERY." 

"  Three  of  the  Shahzadas  " — to  quote  from  Wilson's 
own  despatch  of  September  22 — "  who  are  known  to  have 
taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  atrocities  attending  the 
insurrection,  have  been  this  day  captured  by  Captain 
Hodson  and  shot  on  the  spot. 

"  Thus  has  the  important  duty  committed  to  this  force 
been  accomplished,  and  its  object  attained, — Delhi,  the 
focus  of  rebellion  and  insurrection,  and  the  scene  of  so 
much  horrible  cruelty,  taken  and  made  desolate;  the 
king,  a  prisoner  in  our  hands;  and  the  mutineers,  not- 
withstanding their  great  numerical  superiority  and  their 


ao6  Major  W.  Hodson 

vast  resources  in  ordnance  and  all  the  munition  and 
appliances  of  war,  defeated  on  every  occasion  of  engage- 
ment with  our  troops,  are  now  driven  with  slaughter, 
in  confusion  and  dismay,  from  their  boasted  stronghold." 

In  the  same  despatch,  General  Wilson  especially  com- 
mends the  services  of  "  Captain  W.  S.  R.  Hodson,  who 
has  performed  such  good  and  gallant  service  with  his 
newly  raised  regiment  of  irregular  horse,  and  at  the  same 
time  conducted  the  duties  of  the  Intelligence  Department 
under  the  orders  of  the  quartermaster-general  with  rare 
ability  and  success." l 

Some  indeed  there  were  among  Wilson's  officers  who 
held  that  the  punishment  of  the  princes  might  have  been 
left  to  other  hands  than  those  of  their  self-appointed 
executioner.  Sir  Hugh  Gough,  for  instance,  regrets  that 
Hodson  should  have  placed  himself  in  "  a  position  un- 
worthy of  so  brave  a  man.  The  wretched  princes, 
cowards  and  miscreants  as  they  were,  deserved  their  fate, 
and  I  have  always  held  that  Hodson  was  right  in  all 
he  did,  only  excepting  that  one  false  step."  z 

In  his  delightful  autobiography,  Lord  Roberts  "  was 
rather  startled  "  on  seeing  the  lifeless  bodies  of  the  three 
princes  lying  exposed  on  the  stone  platform  in  front  of 
the  Kotwali.  On  learning  how  and  why  they  had  been 
thus  treated  he  admitted  the  justice  of  their  punishment, 
but  regretted  that  in  playing  the  part  of  executioner, 
Hodson  should  have  "  cast  a  blot  on  his  reputation," 
and  furnished  his  detractors  with  a  fresh  theme  for 
their  invective  against  a  soldier  at  once  so  brilliant  and 
so  bloodthirsty.  "  It  must  be  understood,"  says  Lord 
Roberts,  "  that  there  was  no  breach  of  faith  on  Hodson's 
part,  for  he  steadily  refused  to  give  any  promise  to  the 
princes  that  their  lives  should  be  spared:  he  did,  how- 
ever, undoubtedly  by  this  act  give  colour  to  the  accusa- 
tions of  bloodthirstiness  which  his  detractors  were  not 
slow  to  make."  3 

It  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  no  man  with  fine 
feelings — such  as  Hodson  was  by  birth  and  breeding — 
would  willingly  offer  himself  for  the  post  of  a  common 

1  Forrest's  Selections  *  Old  Memories. 

*  Lord  Roberta's  Forty-one  Years  in  India. 


The  Storming  of  Delhi          207 

hangman.  But  there  may  be  moments  when  the  best 
of  men  is  called  upon  to  choose  between  his  finer  feelings 
and  his  apparent  duty  to  the  State.  That  such  a  moment 
had  come  in  Hodson's  career  is  hardly  open  to  reasonable 
doubt.  Sir  Hugh  Gough,  writing  afterwards  to  Hodson's 
brother,  told  him  "  that  he  heard  both  from  M'Dowell 
and  the  native  officers  that  it  was  a  '  touch-and-go  ' 
affair;  that  Hodson's  own  men  were  wavering ;  and  that 
nothing  but  his  prompt  and  decisive  action  could  have 
saved  them."  "  The  increasing  crowd,"  wrote  M'Dowell, 
"  pressed  close  on  the  horses  of  the  sowars,  and  assumed 
every  moment  a  more  hostile  appearance.  '  What  shall 
we  do  with  them  ?  '  said  Hodson  to  me.  '  I  think  we 
had  better  shoot  them  here;  we  shall  never  get  them 
in.'  .  .  .  There  was  no  time  to  be  lost. 

"  We  halted  the  troop,  put  five  troopers  across  the 
road  behind  and  in  front.  Hodson  ordered  the  princes 
to  strip  and  get  again  into  the  cart.  He  then  shot  them 
with  his  own  hand.  So  ended  the  career  of  the  chiefs 
of  the  revolt,  and  of  the  greatest  villains  that  ever  shamed 
humanity.  Before  they  were  shot,  Hodson  addressed  our 
men,  explaining  who  they  were  and  why  they  were  to 
suffer  death.  The  effect  was  marvellous:  the  Mussul- 
mans seemed  struck  with  a  wholesome  idea  of  retribution, 
and  the  Sikhs  shouted  with  delight,  while  the  mass  moved 
off  slowly  and  silently." 

Writing  to  his  wife  on  the  25th,  Hodson  congratulates 
himself  on  his  success  "  in  destroying  the  enemies  of  our 
race;  the  whole  nation  will  rejoice,  but  I  am  pretty  sure 

that  however  glad will  be  at  their  destruction,  he 

will  take  exception  to  my  having  been  the  instrument,  in 
God's  hands,  of  their  punishment.  That  will  not  signify, 
however:  I  am  too  conscious  of  the  rectitude  of  my  own 
motives  to  care  what  the  few  may  say,  while  my  own  con- 
science and  the  voice  of  the  many  pronounce  me  right." 

In  another  letter  Hodson  says:  "  The  execution  of  the 
princes  could  be  hardly  called  one  of  '  unresisting ' 
enemies,  since  they  were  surrounded  by  an  armed  host, 
to  whom  we  should  have  been  most  unquestionably 
sacrificed  if  I  had  hesitated  for  an  instant.  It  was  they 
or  we,  and  I  recommend  those  v/ho  might  cavil  at  my 


208  Major  W.  Hodson 

choice  to  go  and  catch  the  next  rebels  themselves!  .  .  . 
I  must  be  prepared  to  have  all  kinds  of  bad  motives 
attributed  to  me,  for  no  man  ever  yet  went  out  of  the 
beaten  track  without  being  wondered  at  and  abused; 
and  so  marked  a  success  will  make  me  more  enemies  than 
friends,  so  be  prepared  for  abuse  rather  than  reward. 
For  myself  I  do  not  care,  and  I  am  proud  to  say  that 
those  whose  opinion  I  value  most  highly  think  I  did 
well  and  boldly." 

The  able  writer  in  Blackwood,  from  whom  I  have  before 
quoted,  declares  that  "  a  very  careful  study  of  existing 
evidence,  as  well  as  personal  examination  of  the  locality 
and  distances  traversed,  lead  as  to  the  conclusion  that 
Hodson  certainly  considered  that  the  success  of  his  enter- 
prise, if  not  the  lives  of  himself  and  his  men,  depended 
on  instant  action." 

It  must  be  remembered  also  that  Wilson  had  distinctly 
begged  him  not  to  bring  back  any  more  prisoners,  for  he 
"  would  not  know  what  to  do  with  them."  l  Hodson 
might,  of  course,  have  handed  them  over  to  the  civil 
power,  if  it  had  not  become,  for  himself  and  his  small 
escort,  a  question  of  slaying  or  being  slain.  With  a  bold 
disregard  of  fine  sentiment  and  personal  responsibility — 
that  bugbear  of  all  weak  minds — Hodson  proceeded  to 
solve  the  question  in  his  own  masterful  and  fearless  way. 
On  the  whole,  I  think  that  the  impartial  reader  will  be 
guided  to  a  fair  judgment  on  this  matter  rather  by  the 
concurrent  testim'ony  of  actual  eye-witnesses  than  by  the 
comments  of  misinformed  or  quite  unfriendly  critics.  I 
hope,  at  any  rate,  that  he  will  refrain  from  branding  a 
deed  of  stern  necessity  as  "  a  stupid,  cold-blooded,  three- 
fold murder."  * 

1  Colonel  Thomas  Seaton  of  the  ist  Bengal  Fusiliers  was  present 
when  Hodson  reported  to  the  general  that  he  had  information  of 
the  princes  being  at  Humayun's  tomb,  and  had  asked  leave  to  go 
and  capture  them.  The  general  answered,  "  Go  at  once  and  take 
them  if  possible ;  but  for  God's  sake  do  not  bring  them  in,  if  you  can 
help  it,  for  I  should  not  know  what  to  do  with  them." 

* "  The  only  time,"  says  General  C.  Thomason,  "  I  ever  saw 
Hodson  otherwise  than  cheery  was  one  day  when  I  dropped  in  on 
him  and  found  him  '  writing  his  defence,'  as  he  called  it,  over  the 
matter  of  the  capture  of  the  King  of  Delhi  and  the  execution  of  the 
three  princes.  Poor  fellow,  he  could  not  understand  being  called 


The  Storming  of  Delhi          209 

to  account  for  a  feat  which  must  ever  stand  out  in  history  as 
unbeaten  by  any  Englishman,  which  is  saying  a  good  deal.  .  .  . 

"  No  one  knew  better  than  Hodson  all  the  details  of  the  horrible 
enormities  of  which  these  princes  had  been  guilty  in  connection  with 
the  massacre  of  the  captured  English  women  and  children,  some  days 
after  the  actual  breaking  out  of  the  Mutiny  on  May  u.  .  .  . 

"  But  why  execute  them  with  his  own  hand?  is  the  question  often 
asked.  ...  I  will  give  Hodson's  own  reply  to  this  question  as  he 
gave  it  to  me. 

"  '  The  blood  of  the  innocent  women  and  children  who  had  been 
the  victims  of  the  ferocity  of  these  scoundrels  seemed  to  cry  aloud 
to  me  as  their  countryman  sent  by  Providence  to  avenge  their 
wrongs;  and  if  I  had  hesitated  for  an  instant  in  performing  with  my 
own  hands  what  I  considered  a  sacred  duty,  I  should  never  again 
have  been  able  to  look  an  Englishman  in  the  face.' 

"  In  common  with  the  rest  of  us  at  Delhi,  who  had  no  reason  to  be 
jealous  of  him,  I  have  often  wondered  at  Hodson  never  having  been 
made  a  V.C.  for  this,  if  for  no  other  gallant  action.  The  reply  of 
an  old  schoolfellow  of  mine,  who  knew  Hodson  well,  was,  '  I  suppose 
it  was  because  he  won  it  every  day  of  his  life.'  " 


CHAPTER  XVII 

FROM   DELHI   TO   UMfiALA.      SEPT  .-NOV.    1857 

ON  the  morning  of  September  23,  Nicholson's  great  soul 
passed  away  from  the  scene  of  his  last  and  most  glorious 
achievements.  He  had  "lived,  indeed,  to  know  that  he 
had  not  fought  and  fallen  in  vain.  But  in  every  Indian 
station  a  cry  of  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  such  a  leader  rang 
out  through  the  general  rejoicing  over  the  fall  of  Delhi 
and  the  capture  of  its  king.  In  the  words  of  the  eloquent 
historian  of  the  Sepoy  War,  "  Then  from  city  to  city, 
from  cantonment  to  cantonment,  went  the  chequered 
tidings:  Delhi  had  fallen,  the  king  was  a  captive — but 
John  Nicholson  was  dead."  x  Among  those  who  mourned 
most  deeply  the  death  of  such  a  man  at  such  a  moment 
was  Hodson  himself:  "  With  the  single  exceptions  of  my 
ever-revered  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  and  Colonel  Mackeson, 
I  have  never  seen  his  equal  in  field  or  council:  he  was 
pre-eminently  our  '  best  and  bravest,'  and  his  loss  is  not 
to  be  atoned  for  in  these  days." 

The  fall  of  the  imperial  city  on  the  Jumna  broke  the 
neck  of  a  wide-raging  rebellion  before  a  single  soldier  of 
the  thousands  then  on  their  way  from  England  had  set 
foot  on  Indian  ground.  But  many  months  of  hard  toil 
and  frequent  fighting  had  yet  to  elapse  before  the  hydra- 
headed  monster  ceased  to  breathe.  A  few  days  after  the 
capture  of  Bahadur  Shah,  the  soldiers  of  Outram,  Have- 
lock,  and  Neill  fought  their  way  at  a  terrible  loss  into  the 
beleaguered  Residency  of  Lucknow.  But  it  was  more 
than  two  months  before  Sir  Colin  Campbell,  the  new 
commander-in-chief,  could  withdraw  the  reinforced 
garrison  from  their  battered  defences;  and  not  until 
four  months  later  was  Lucknow  itself,  the  capital  of  the 
province,  which  had  so  long  served  as  the  recruiting- 
1  Kaye's  Sepoy  War,  vol.  iii. 
210 


From  Delhi  to  Umbala          2 1 1 

ground  for  the  Bengal  army,  destined  to  fall  after  a 
severe  struggle  into  the  hands  of  its  former  masters. 

Meanwhile  there  was  plenty  of  work  in  store  for 
Hodson's  Horse.  On  the  morning  of  the  23rd,  Hodson 
came  into  camp  "  to  see  after  the  march  of  a  detach- 
ment of  my  regiment  which  is  ordered,  after  half-a- 
dozen  changes,  to  accompany  a  movable  column  which 
is  ordered  to  proceed  towards  Agra  to-morrow.  I  am 
to  remain  here,  and,  to  tell  the  truth,  the  business  is  so 
mismanaged  that  I  have  ceased  to  care  whether  I  go  or 
stay.  I  fancy  they  find  me  too  useful  here.  We  move 
down  bodily  to  or  near  the  town  to-morrow,  and  every- 
thing is  in  confusion  and  bustle." 

To  his  great  delight,  Lieutenant  Hugh  Gough  was 
selected  by  Hodson  to  command  the  wing  of  his  regiment 
ordered  to  march  with  Colonel  Greathed's  column  towards 
Agra.  "  Colonel  Seaton  has  given  up  the  prize  agency 
in  disgust,"  writes  Hodson  on  the  26th,  "  and  I  refused 
it  altogether:  he  is  taking  you  a  real  trophy  from  Delhi, 
no  less  than  the  turquoise  armlet  and  signet  rings  of  the 
rascally  princes  whom  I  shot, — not  actually  worth  twenty 
shillings,  but  I  know  they  will  be  prized  by  you  and  the 
dear  ones  at  home."  On  the  2yth  he  himself,  with  the 
remainder  of  his  Horse,  joined  the  column  which  Brigadier 
Showers — ' '  a  most  gentlemanly  person  and  gallant  soldier, 
but  sadly  prolix  and  formal  in  all  his  arrangements  " — 
was  to  lead  against  the  rebels  in  the  adjacent  districts  of 
Gurgaon  and  Rewari. 

On  October  i,  he  rejoices  to  hear  "  that  the  detach- 
ment [of  Hodson's  Horse]  under  Hugh  Gough,  who  were 
sent  with  the  column  across  the  Jumna,  behaved  extremely 
well  in  that  action  at  Bolundshur,  and  have  been  much 
praised.  I  am  very  glad,  indeed,  of  this:  it  is  a  great 
thing  for  a  new  regiment  to  be  successful  at  a  cheap  rate 
in  its  first  encounters ;  it  gives  a  prestige  which  it  is  long 
in  losing,  and  gives  the  men  confidence  in  themselves  and 
their  leaders.  In  this  affair  our  loss  was  trifling,  though 
the  cavalry  were  principally  employed.  Poor  Sarel,  9th 
Lancers,  wounded  severely,  I  am  sorry  to  say." 

On  the  23rd,  Hodson  begs  his  wife  to  "  tell he 

may  unhesitatingly  contradict  the  story  about  the  rupees. 


212  Major  W.  Hodson 

It  was  born  in  Delhi,  and  was  partly  the  cause  of  General 
Wilson's  bad  behaviour  to  me.  The  money,  10,000 
rupees,  was  brought  to  me  late  one  night  by  the  men, 
who  had  been  desired  (as  Colonel  Seaton  will  corroborate) 
to  secure  prize  property  for  him  and  the  other  agents. 
We  marched  at  daybreak  next  morning,  and  I  had  only 
time  to  make  it  over  to  M'Dowell  to  see  it  locked  up  in 
the  regimental  chest  for  safety  before  we  started.  When 
I  returned,  three  or  four  days  afterwards,  a  story  had 
been  circulated  by  the  native  who  had  disgorged  the  coin, 
that  I  had  kept  the  money  for  myself!  Of  course  the 
very  day  I  returned  it  was,  with  heaps  of  other  things, 
made  over  to  the  agents.  And  so  stories  go  in  this 
world !  " 

A  full  account  of  this  very  incident  was  given  at  the 
time  to  Mr.  Sloggett  by  one  of  the  prize  agents,  Major 
Wriford  of  the  ist  Bengal  Fusiliers.  On  the  morning  of 
September  27,  twenty  troopers  of  Hodson's  Horse  had 
brought  from  the  house  of  a  native  banker  a  bag  each 
of  Rs.  5000,  Rs.  10,000  in  all,  in  exchange  for  an  order 
signed  by  Hodson  himself  releasing  the  banker  from  all 
liability  to  further  search  of  his  premises.  The  money 
was  safely  lodged  in  the  regimental  treasure-chest.  On 
learning  that  this  sum  had  not  been  duly  paid  over  to 
the  prize  agents,  General  Wilson  appears  to  have  assumed 
that  Hodson  intended  to  keep  the  booty  for  himself.  He 
ordered  Wriford  to  go  with  a  company  of  his  own  men  to 
Hodson's  lines,  take  possession  of  the  regimental  chest, 
and  bring  it  to  headquarters.  On  his  way  thither  Wriford 
met  Hodson,  who  had  just  returned  to  Delhi  after  an 
absence  of  three  days.  The  two  men  at  once  proceeded 
to  the  general's  quarters.  On  hearing  Hodson's  report 
of  his  recent  doings,  Wilson  "  burst  forth  into  warmest 
acclamations  of  praise.  '  If  I  had  many  like  you,'  he 
said,  '  we  should  soon  see  the  country  settled  quietly 
down.'  Hodson's  reply  was,  '  Now,  sir,  I  beg  you  to 
place  me  under  arrest,'  at  the  same  time  unbuckling  and 
laying  down  his  sword. 

"  The  general,  astonished,  asked  what  he  meant,  when 
he  alluded  to  the  order  just  before  given  to  Wriford. 
'Oh,'  said  the  general,  'I  had  forgotten  all  about  it: 


From  Delhi  to  Umbala          213 

yes,  I  am  very  sorry,  but  I  was  obliged  to  issue  it,  because 
you  had  signed  a  release  from  search  to  the  banker,  which 
no  one  knew  anything  about,  save  that  you  must  have 
had  10,000  rupees  for  giving  it.'  Hodson  opened  his 
sabretasche  and  held  out  the  order  for  him  to  do  this 
signed  by  the  general,  and  then  he  showed  the  second 
order  which  had  taken  him  off  an  hour  after  on  the 
emergent  expedition  from  which  he  had  that  moment 
returned.  The  general  expressed  the  deepest  contrition; 
said  he  believed  his  mind  was  going — he  could  remember 
nothing  from  hour  to  hour,  and  so  on;  asked  Hodson  to 
forgive  him  and  take  up  his  sword  again  and  continue 
to  give  him  the  benefit  of  his  invaluable  services.  But 
(Wriford  continued  in  his  story  to  me) '  would  you  believe 
it?  This  thing  is  still  brought  up  against  him.  Some 
men  envy  and  dislike  him  so  much  they  really  don't 
care  what  they  say.'  "  x 

The  amount  of  petty  jealousy  provoked  by  Hodson's 
latest  achievements  was  indeed,  as  he  tells  his  wife, 
"  beyond  belief.  The  capture  of  the  king  and  his  sons, 
however  ultimately  creditable,  has  caused  me  more  envy 
and  ill-will  than  you  would  believe  possible,  but  I  have 
had  too  much  experience  of  humanity  during  the  last 
few  years  to  care  for  envy  now;  and  conscious  as  I  am 
of  my  own  rectitude  of  purpose  at  least,  however  I  may 
err  in  judgment,  I  go  on  my  way  rejoicing." 

Before  the  end  of  October,  Showers's  column  had  got 
through  a  good  deal  of  useful,  if  not  very  glorious  work. 
Four  or  five  forts,  including  those  of  Kanaud  and  Jhajar, 
about  sixty  guns,  seven  or  eight  lakhs  of  rupees,  and 
plenty  of  other  prizes,  fell  into  the  brigadier's  hands. 
Hodson  and  his  ubiquitous  troopers  scoured  the  country 
to  the  south  and  west  of  Delhi,  giving  the  disaffected  no 
rest.  In  the  intervals  of  other  work  their  bold  leader 
wrote  daily  to  his  wife  a  lively  record  of  each  day's  pro- 
ceedings. 

On  the   2nd  of  October,  he  tells  her  that  he  had 

"  remained  behind  the  force  for  a  day  in  order  to  settle 

the  business  and  pay  up  and  discharge  my  Intelligence 

establishment.  ...  I  feel  quite  a  free  man  now.     I  have 

1  The  Rev.  C.  Sloggett's  letter  to  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Hodson. 


214  Major  W.  Hodson 

no  work  to  do  but  my  regiment;  though,  truth  to  tell, 
that  is  quite  enough  for  one  man,  even  with  so  able  and 
willing  an  assistant  as  M'Dowell.  I  do  not  reckon  on 
much  fighting  where  we  are  going,  and  the  weather  is 
now  getting  very  tolerable.  The  country  we  are  going 
into  is  much  healthier  than  Delhi,  and  I  expect  much 
benefit  from  the  change  of  air  and  quiet  marching.  After 
our  return  I  shall  get  away,  if  but  for  a  week;  and  then 
my  anxiety  is  to  join  Napier,  wherever  he  may  be." 

On  the  3rd,  he  speaks  of  the  brigadier  as  "  march- 
ing at  his  favourite  pace  of  six  miles  in  five  hours." 
"  I  grieve  daily,"  he  adds,  "  in  all  bitterness  for  poor 
Nicholson's  death.  He  was  a  man  such  as  one  rarely 
sees, — next  to  dear  Sir  Henry,  our  greatest  loss." 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  4th,  while  the  column  halted 
at  Gurgaon,  he  is  ordered  to  go  and  '  punish  some  re- 
fractory villages  a  few  miles  off.  ...  Tell the  swords 

I  have  kept  are  beautiful,  and  historically  most  valuable. 
It  was  like  parting  with  my  teeth  to  give  up  those  I  did 
to  the  general:  I  should  not  have  cared  so  much  if  he 
had  done  anything  towards  the  winning  them.  It  will 
be  something  hereafter  to  wear  a  sword  taken  from  the 
last  of  the  House  of  Timour,  which  had  been  girt  round 
the  waists  of  the  greatest  of  his  predecessors." 

On  the  6th,  he  writes  from  Rewari  that  "  Tulsi  Ram 
bolted  yesterday,  and  left  only  an  empty  fort  and  his 
guns  behind  him :  in  good  hands  it  would  have  given  us 
considerable  trouble,  and  he  was  evidently  a  clever  fellow, 
and  had  adroitly  and  promptly  contrived  so  as  to  be  first 
in  the  field,  should  our  power  have  ceased.  We  found 
extensive  preparations,  and  large  workshops  for  the  com- 
pletion of  military  equipments  of  all  kinds,  guns,  gun- 
carriages,  gunpowder,  accoutrements,  and  material  of  all 
kinds.  He  had  already  done  much,  and  in  a  couple  of 
months  his  position  would  have  been  so  strong  as  to  have 
given  him  the  command  of  all  the  surrounding  country, 
as  well  as  the  rich  town  and  entrepot  of  Rewari,  close  to 
the  walls  of  his  fort. 

"  At  the  same  time  he  was  prepared,  if  we  won  the 
day,  to  profess  that  he  had  done  all  this  solely  in  our 
interests  and  to  preserve  the  district  for  us  from  the 


From  Delhi  to  Umbala          215 

Gujur  depredators.  This  is  now  his  line  of  defence. 
Showers  yesterday  sent  to  tell  him  that  if  he  would  come 
in  and  give  himself  up,  as  well  as  his  guns  and  arms,  he 
should  be  treated  on  his  merits.  This  he  would  not  do, 
and  has  eventually  sealed  his  fate  by  bolting.  The  extent 
of  his  warlike  preparations  is  too  obviously  the  result 
of  his  really  hostile,  rather  than  of  his  professedly  friendly, 
intentions." 

From  his  letter  of  October  7,  it  appears  that  Hodson 
had  drawn  no  pay,  either  for  his  work  as  assistant  quarter- 
master-general or  for  his  new  regiment,  except  "  an 
advance  of  £500  for  current  expenditure.  I  have  as  yet 
been  able  to  get  no  pay  abstracts  passed;  and  indeed 
such  is  the  confusion  of  all  things,  from  the  want  of  some 
central  authority,  that  no  one  knows  where,  or  by  whom, 
we  are  to  be  paid;  so  I  have  to  draw  money  for  my  men 
'on  account,'  to  be  settled  hereafter:  as  yet,  however, 
I  take  care  that  it  shall  not  exceed  a  third,  or  at  utmost 
half  their  pay,  to  be  safely  within  the  mark.  Men  and 
horses  cannot  live  on  '  nothing  a-day  and  find  themselves,' 
and  any  regular  office-work  is  utterly  impossible  while 
we  are  kept  so  perpetually  in  the  saddle.  It  is  rather 
hard  on  a  new  regiment,  '  raised  on  service,'  and  a  little 
hard  on  their  commandant  too,  but  all  will  come  straight 
in  the  end,  I  doubt  not." 

On  the  nth,  he  reports  everything  perfectly  quiet 
about  Rewari:  "  The  weather  is  really  cold  in  the  morn- 
ings; we  shall  all  improve  by  the  change,  though  fever 
is  very  prevalent  amongst  the  natives.  The  Europeans 
are  gaining  strength  daily." 

Writing  from  Dadri  on  the  i6th,  he  speaks  of  the 
Nawab  of  Jhajar  as  making  his  submission  to  Brigadier 
Showers:  "  So  not  a  shot  will  be  fired,  for  all  the  swarms 
of  irregular  cavalry  have  dispersed  to  their  homes,  or 
rather  to  the  hills  and  jungles,  for  shelter  and  security. 
Colonel  Greathed's  column  has  reached  Agra,  and  there 
had  a  fight — a  regular  surprise,  our  people  being  attacked 
while  at  breakfast !  However,  the  enemy  were  thoroughly 
thrashed  eventually,  and  lost  camp  and  guns.  Poor 
French  of  the  Lancers  is  the  only  officer  whose  name  I 
have  heard  as  killed." 


216  Major  W.  Hodson 

A  report  had  just  reached  him  from  Simla  that  Mrs. 
Hodson  had  "  got  some  magnificent  diamond  rings,  etc., 
taken  at  Delhi.  This  is  rather  good,  considering  the  only 
rings  I  sent  you  were  the  princes',  and  not  worth  twenty 
rupees  altogether,  and  the  only  '  diamonds  '  were  in  that 
little  brooch  I  bought  from  a  sowar  more  than  a  month 
before  Delhi  was  taken.  So  much  for  the  veracity  of 
your  good-natured  friends  at  Simla!  " 

He  likes  M'Dowell  "  increasingly — he  is  so  thoroughly 
honest  and  gentlemanly,  and  brave  as  a  lion.  In  Wise, 
too,  I  am  fortunate;  and  Wells  is  a  fat,  good-tempered 
willing-to-work  schoolboy.  We  do  very  well,  indeed, 
together,  and  I  have  profited  by  past  experience  (and 
perhaps  the  natural  result  of  increased  age  and  know- 
ledge of  the  world),  but  things  are  very  different  now 
from  then." 

On  the  morning  of  the  igth,  the  force  of  cavalry  under 
Colonel  Custance  of  the  Carabineers  took  possession  of 
Karnaud,  "  one  of  the  strongest  forts  I  have  seen,  with 
fourteen  guns,  some  very  heavy  ones,  and  five  lakhs  of 
rupees,  which,  alas !  is  to  be  considered  Government,  not 
prize,  property.  I  was  only  out  of  my  saddle  for  one 
hour  yesterday,  from  one  in  the  morning  till  sunset,  and 
then  only  to  get  some  cold  food  under  a  tree !  But  I  am 
quite  well  and  strong,  much  better  than  I  was  at  Delhi; 
and  as  Colonel  Custance  and  his  officers  are  remarkably 
agreeable,  gentlemanlike  people,  we  have  had  the  most 
really  pleasant  days  since  leaving  Delhi." 

On  the  next  day,  Hodson  received  "  a  very  nice  and 
welcome  letter  from  Grant,  dated  Calcutta,  5th  September. 
He  had  had  a  long  talk  about  me  with  Mr.  Talbot,  who 
told  him  that  General  Anson's  representations  had  done 
much  good,  and  that  it  was  admitted  on  all  hands  that 
my  exculpation  in  re  the  Guides  was  complete,  and  that 
no  higher  or  more  flattering  testimonials  were  ever  seen; 
so  that,  please  God,  I  shall  be  righted  at  last, — and 
justice  is  all  I  want." 

At  Karnaud  the  column  halted  for  several  days. 
Hodson  himself  was  not  sorry  for  the  rest.  "  My  men 
and  horses  were  beginning  to  suffer.  I  had  this  morning 
thirty-eight  men  and  forty-three  horses  sick!  My  ankle 


From  Delhi  to  Umbala          217 

gives  me  so  much  pain  that  I  have  been  forced  to  take 
to  a  small  pony  to  ride  even  about  camp,  so  as  to  avoid 
walking  even  for  fifty  yards.  I  believe  it  will  be  good 
for  a  sick  certificate." 

During  the  halt  at  Karnaud  a  certain  Khuda  Baksh 
brought  into  Hodson  "  untold  money  and  bullion  which 
he  digs  up,  and  is  very  indignant  because  I  insist  on  its 
being  handed  over  as  prize-money. 

"  The  detached  state  of  this  regiment  is  enough  to 
ruin  it.  Three  troops  are  at  Agra,  or  thereabouts,  under 
Hugh  Gough;  the  sick  and  depot  at  Delhi,  and  portions 
of  five  troops  here;  but  it  seriously  increases  the  difficulty 
of  managing  a  totally  new  regiment,  and  it  is  hardly  fair 
either  to  the  men  or  to  the  commanding  officer.  I  have 
remonstrated,  but  I  suppose  with  very  little  effect,  as 
I  have  had  no  answer.  I  trust,  indeed,  I  may  get  all 
together  and  go  towards  Oudh." 

On  the  29th,  Hodson  was  back  again  in  Delhi,  "  safe 
and  well,  but  very  tired."  On  his  arrival  he  went  straight 
to  call  upon  General  Penny,  who  had  lately  taken  over 
the  command  from  General  Wilson.  General  Penny  at 
once  granted  him  the  leave  for  which  he  had  already 
applied,  to  visit  his  wife  for  a  few  weeks  at  Umbala, 
whither  she  had  come  down  from  Simla  for  the  cold 
weather  just  setting  in. 

The  hours  that  intervened  before  his  departure  from 
Delhi  were  mainly  spent  in  arranging  for  the  despatch 
of  his  regiment  to  Meerut.  He  was  feeling  sadly  in  need 
of  rest.  "  I  have  been  overstrained  and  over-laboured," 
he  writes  on  October  30,  "  and  I  want  repose.  When  I 
get  our  prize-money  I  hope  to  realise  Rs.  40,000,  and  if 
so,  I  shall  be  able  to  pay  all  our  debts,  and  a  great  burden 
will  be  off  my  heart.  I  shall  feel  quite  free  and  young 
again  in  heart  when  all  is  clear." 

The  passage  just  quoted  furnishes  of  itself  a  convinc- 
ing answer  to  the  charges  of  wholesale  plunder  which 
Hodson's  enemies  have  continually  brought  against 
him.  But  calumny  was  soon  to  find  a  fresh  weapon  of 
attack  connected  with  the  incident  which  I  have  now  to 
mention. 

Among  the  booty  which  Hodson  had  helped  to  capture 


2i 8  Major  W.  Hodson 

were  some  1600  head  of  horned  cattle.  He  at  once 
reported  to  Brigadier  Showers  the  result  of  his  successful 
foray.  "What  in  the  world  am  I  to  do  with  them?  " 
exclaimed  the  puzzled  brigadier;  "  it  would  take  half 
my  force  to  convoy  them  back  to  Delhi."  "  Well,  sir," 
replied  Hodson,  "  will  you  sell  them  to  me  and  let  me 
take  my  chance  ?  "  Never  had  the  brigadier  been  more 
relieved,  as  he  afterwards  told  Lord  Napier,  than  he  felt 
at  the  offer  thus  made  to  him.  He  agreed  to  let  Hodson 
buy  the  whole  lot  at  two  rupees  four  annas  a  head.  The 
purchase  money,  which  Hodson  paid  over  to  the  prize 
agent,  amounted  to  Rs.  3491.  Under  an  escort  of  his 
own  sowars  the  cattle  with  their  drivers  were  sent  off  to 
Delhi,  where  the  cattle  were  sold  at  a  very  handsome 
profit. 

Out  of  the  proceeds,  says  the  Rev.  C.  Sloggett,  Hodson 
bought  at  Umbala  for  1200  rupees  a  house  "  which,  just 
before  the  Mutiny  and  a  few  months  after,  was  worth 
Rs.  15,000,  for  which  I  believe  he  ultimately  sold  it.  At 
first,  however,  his  wife  lived  in  it,  and  in  grateful  re- 
membrance of  the  'mode  of  its  acquisition  they  bestowed 
upon  it  the  name  of  the  Cowhouse."  The  name,  in  fact, 
was  given  as  a  joke  by  Hodson  himself,  who  appears 
to  have  been  in  high  glee  at  the  result  of  his  lucky 
speculation. 

"  Not  many  weeks  elapsed,"  continues  Mr.  Sloggett, 
"  ere  many  of  the  residents  had  left,  and  were  succeeded 
by  others  who,  though  they  knew  of  Hodson,  knew 
nothing  of  the  circumstances  which  had  enabled  him  to 
purchase  so  large  and  fine  a  house,  and  so  the  rumour 
grew  and  spread  that  one  who  was  known  to  have  been 
in  debt  a  short  time  before  must  have  '  looted  '  largely 
ere  he  could  have  become  the  possessor  of  so  valuable  a 
house."  l 

Lord  Napier's  testimony  to  the  truth  of  a  story  told 
by  Brigadier  Showers  needs  no  corroboration.  It  may, 
however,  be  worth  noting  here  that  the  late  Sir  Donald 
Stewart,  who  had  served  on  the  general  staff  during  the 
siege  of  Delhi,  declared  that  "  there  was  nothing  secret 
or  underhand  in  the  transaction." 

1  Rev.  C.  Sloggett's  letter  to  Mr.  Bosworth  Smith. 


From  Delhi  to  Umbala          219 

On  November  2,  Hodson  rejoined  the  wife  whom  he 
loved  so  tenderly,  with  a  love  which  frequent  separation 
and  the  whirl  of  engrossing  cares,  perils,  and  distractions 
had  served  only  to  deepen  and  sanctify.  No  lover  could 
have  expressed  himself  more  fervently  than  he  had  lately 
done  upon  hearing  of  Mrs.  Hodson's  narrow  escape  from 
imminent  destruction  during  one  of  her  rides  about 
Simla.  "  I  am  indeed,"  he  writes  on  October  27,  "  most 
humbly  and  earnestly  grateful  to  the  good  God  who  has 
so  mercifully  spared  what  was  so  infinitely  more  precious 
to  me  than  life  itself,1  and  I  do  feel  how  entirely  our 
hearts  should  be  filled  with  gratitude  to  Him  for  the 
bountiful  mercies  which  we  mutually  and  individually 
have  experienced  at  His  hands  during  the  past  year — 
the  preservation  of  us  both  from  such  perils;  my  re- 
employment  in  an  honourable  position;  my  ability  to 
do  such  good  service  to  the  country  at  such  a  crisis;  the 
preservation  of  health  in  such  a  time  of  exposure;  my 
complete,  though  tardy,  vindication  from  unjust  charges; 
my  almost  assured  freedom  from  debt, — all  these  mercies 
are  almost  more  than  my  full  heart  can  bear.  May  God 
crown  all  other  blessings  by  granting  us  a  safe  reunion! '" 

On  the  day  after  his  arrival  he  writes  home  to  his 
sister:  "  I  was  happy  enough  to  get  back  here  yesterday 
night  and  find  my  wife  well,  and  all  but  recovered  from 
the  effects  of  her  frightful  accident — the  most  wonderful 
escape,  perhaps,  from  imminent  peril  ever  recorded.  I 
take  the  first  holiday  I  have  had  since  the  i5th  May  to- 
write  a  few  lines  to  you,  my  dearest  sister,  to  say  what 
deep  and  real  pleasure  and  comfort  your  letters  bring  to 
me,  amidst  danger  and  toil  and  fatigue;  and  how  cheer- 
ing it  is  to  feel  that,  come  what  may,  I  am  sure  of  your 
loving  sympathy  and  constant  affection.  I  received 
yesterday  your  letter  of  the  4th  May,  and  could  not  but 
be  most  forcibly  struck  with  the  contrast  between  my 
circumstances  individually  and  those  of  the  country  then 
and  now.  No  one  will  rejoice  more  than  yourself  at  the 
sudden  change,  and  at  the  tolerable  success  which  has 
been  permitted  to  my  labours." 

1  The  horse  on  which  his  wife  was  riding  missed  his  footing,  fell* 
down  a  precipice,  and  was  killed.  In  the  act  of  falling  Mrs.  Hodson 
saved  herself,  and  almost  by  a  miracle  escaped  without  serious  hurt.. 


22O  Major  W.  Hodson 

Only  a  fortnight  after  this  happy  reunion  his  leave 
was  cut  short  by  an  order  to  rejoin  his  regiment  on 
active  service. 

"  We  march  at  once,"  he  writes  on  the  isth,  "  to  join 
Sir  Colin  Campbell  and  the  army  assembling  at  Cawnpore 
for  the  reconquest  of  Lucknow. 

"  I  am  getting  on  famously  with  my  regiment:  men 
of  good  family  and  fighting  repute  are  really  flocking  to 
my  standard,  and  before  the  end  of  the  year  I  hope  to 
have  1000  horsemen  under  my  command. 

"  I  had  a  letter  the  other  day  from at  Calcutta, 

from  which  I  learn  that  at  last  the  truth  is  beginning  to 
dawn  on  the  minds  of  men  in  power  regarding  me.  They 
now  say  that  my  remonstrance  will  be  placed  on  record 
for  preservation,  '  not  for  justification,  which  is  fully- 
admitted  was  not  required,'  and  that  '  no  higher  testi- 
monials were  ever  produced.' 

"  How  much  I  have  to  be  thankful  for,  not  only  for 
restored  position  and  means  of  future  distinction,  but 
for  safety  and  preservation  during  this  terrible  war,  and 
for  my  dear  wife's  escape." 

One  or  two  pleasing  incidents  in  that  brief  period  of 
domestic  happiness  have  been  thus  described  by  a  lady 
visitor  at  the  Cowhouse:  "When  at  Umbala,  on  ten 
days'  leave,  in  November  last,  the  wounded  and  con- 
valescent Guides  (his  old  corps)  were  all  day  straying 
into  the  compound  simply  to  salaam  the  sahib.  And  if, 
when  lingering  on  the  steps  or  in  front  of  the  study  door, 
they  were  questioned  what  they  wanted,  their  answer 
would  be,  '  Nothing;  they  liked  to  look  at  the  sahib.' 
And  so  they  hung  about  his  steps,  and  watched  like  so 
many  faithful  dogs.  Especially  there  was  an  Afghan 
boy  (he  had  once  been  a  slave)  whose  very  soul  seemed 
bound  up  in  the  master  who  had  rescued  him  from  his 
degraded  position,  and  for  whom  every  service  seemed 
light.  He  would  watch  his  master's  movements  with  a 
look  of  very  worship,  as  if  the  ground  were  not  good 
enough  for  him  to  tread." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

FROM   UMBALA  TO   FATHIGARH.      NOV.    l85y-JAN.    1858 

TOWARDS  the  end  of  the  same  month  his  old  friend 
Colonel  Seaton  was  instructed  by  General  Penny  to  take 
charge  of  an  immense  convoy  about  to  be  despatched 
from  Delhi  on  the  road  to  Cawnpore,  or  wherever  he 
might  find  Sir  Colin  Campbell.  A  small  force  of  all 
arms — absurdly  small  for  a  convoy  reckoned  to  cover 
some  eighteen  miles  of  ground — was  assigned  to  him  for 
this  purpose.  For  the  success  of  such  a  movement 
Seaton  felt  that  the  means  of  obtaining  correct  informa- 
tion on  all  essential  points  was  absolutely  necessary.  He 
therefore  requested  General  Penny  to  let  him  have  Major 
Hodson  and  his  regiment  of  horse,  instead  of  the  cavalry 
corps  that  had  been  detailed  for  that  duty. 

"  '  But/  urged  the  general,  '  Hodson's  corps  is  not  so 

strong  as 's  nor  anything  like  so  well  mounted.'  '  I 

know  that,  sir,  quite  well;  but  as  the  safety  of  the  convoy 
— the  whole  success  of  the  expedition — will  depend  mainly 
on  getting  accurate  information  of  the  enemy,  I  wish  to 
have  Hodson,  for  I  know  well  that  if  any  man  in  the 
world  can  get  it,  he  is  the  man.  He  is  indefatigable — a 
soldier  of  the  highest  class;  I  have  unbounded  confidence 
in  him,  and  would  rather  have  him  than  500  more  men.' 
The  general  on  hearing  this  at  once  acquiesced,  and  at 
the  same  time  authorised  me  to  organise  an  '  intelligence 
department.'  "  * 

On  December  10,  after  four  days  of  forced  marches, 
Hodson's  Horse  were  encamped  some  fourteen  miles  from 
Aligarh.  "  We  joined  the  column  this  morning,"  writes 
Hodson,  "  and  march  on  to  Aligarh  to-morrow.  .  .  . 
We  have  a  frightful  convoy  and  crowd,  but  I  hope  not 
for  long.  The  headquarter  people,  Colonels  Keith- 
Young,  Becher,  and  Congreve,  are  with  us.  It  is  said 
1  From  Cadet  to  Colonel. 


222  Major  W.  Hodson 

that  our  friend  Napier  is  to  be  adjutant-general  of  the 
.army — delightful  if  true.  I  have  only  just  got  my  tent 
up,  and  it  is  nearly  dark,  so  I  can  only  say  that  I  am 
safe  and  well." 

Early  the  next  morning  the  column  reached  Aligarh. 
'"  Everything  perfectly  quiet  in  the  neighbourhood,"  was 
Hodson's  report,  "  and  no  large  gathering  of  Pandies 
anywhere  near.  There  is  a  small  party  at  Khasganj, 
and  I  hope  we  may  be  lucky  enough  to  find  them,  but  I 
doubt  their  waiting  for  us.  Meantime  we  are  to  march 
down  the  Trunk  Road,  halting  here  to-morrow.  I  cannot 
.get  over  our  parting — each  separation  seems  a  greater 
wrench  than  the  last.  ...  I  have  596  sabres  with  me 
now,  50  more  coming  from  Delhi,  besides  the  140  with 
Gough — not  so  bad  that." 

On  the  following  day  he  hears  from  Agra  that  the 
ladies,  together  with  the  sick  and  wounded  from  Luck- 
now  and  Cawnpore,  have  been  sent  down  to  Allahabad, 
and  the  Gwalior  Contingent  beaten.  "  The  commander- 
in-chief,"  he  adds,  "  is  at  Cawnpore,  and  troops  will  be 
assembling  there,  enough  to  put  down  all  opposition  and 
open  the  road  to  Calcutta.  We  march  to-morrow  morn- 
ing from  hence,  leaving  the  impedimenta  behind  here 
until  we  can  ascertain  that  the  road  is  clear:  when  it 
is  so,  all  will  move  on.  We  have  fifteen  guns,  mostly 
-9-pounders,  with  our  small  but  compact  force." 

On  the  1 3th,  he  writes  from  Jalali:  "Your  letter 
-enclosing  our  darling  sister's  found  us  lying  in  the  dust, 
with  a  pea-soup  atmosphere  of  fine  sand  all  around, 
discussing  hot  tea  and  eggs,  just  as  I  had  returned  from 
a  reconnaissance  to  the  front  in  virtue  of  my  being  big 
eye  and  ear  of  the  camp.  Apropos  of  the  newspapers, 
Arthur  Cocks  [the  Civil  Commissioner]  tells  me  that  the 
Friend  of  India  has  apologised  for  its  strictures  on  my 
conduct  in  re  the  Shahzadas;  so  let  that  satisfy  you,  for 
nothing  I  could  write,  or  my  friends  for  me,  could  ever 
be  half  so  effectual  as  the  Friend's  voluntary  amende. 
I  intended  to  have  written  much  to-day,  but  I  was  waked 
at  3  A.M.,  marched  soon  after,  and  with  the  exception  of 
the  dusty  breakfast  (cheered  by  my  letters),  I  was  in 
the  saddle  till  half-past  2  P.M.  Then  regimental  business, 


From  Umbala  to  Fathigarh      223 

washed  and  dressed,  then  threw  myself  on  my  bed  for 
half  an  hour  till  dinner,  after  which  we  get  to  bed  as 
soon  as  we  can,  and  up  again  at  3  A.M.,  so  there  is  not 
much  time  for  what  I  want  to  do  of  private  matters. 
There's  a  history  of  a  day  in  camp." 

On  the  morning  of  the  i4th,  Seaton's  column  reached 
Ganged,  about  thirteen  miles  from  Khasganj,  between 
which  place  and  Kuchla  on  the  Ganges  large  bodies  of 
rebels  were  said  to  be  encamped.  Hodson  was  at  once 
sent  off  with  a  few  of  his  troopers  and  Seaton's  orderly, 
Major  Light  of  the  Bengal  Artillery,  to  report  on  the 
enemy's  strength  and  whereabouts.  Seaton  had  just 
finished  his  breakfast  when  Light  came  galloping  back. 
"  Captain  Hodson  desires  me  to  tell  you,  sir,  that  the 
enemy's  cavalry  are  advancing  in  force  on  both  flanks." 
Seaton  at  once  ordered  his  bugler  to  sound  the  alarm. 
In  a  few  minutes  the  whole  force  were  under  arms,  and 
the  cavalry,  with  the  guns,  were  trotting  forward  from 
either  flank  towards  a  village,  beyond  which  the  rebels 
were  advancing  to  the  attack.  As  our  troops  moved 
forward  over  broken  ground,  dotted  with  tufts  of  tall 
grass,  "  the  enemy's  infantry,"  writes  Seaton,  "  appeared 
on  the  ridge,  and  their  guns  began  to  open  on  us.  The 
fire  of  the  enemy's  guns,  subdued  by  Bishop's  battery,  had 
slackened  and  almost  ceased,  when  Wardlaw,  seeing  his 
opportunity,  charged  and  captured  them.  Hodson  at 
the  same  moment  threw  his  regiment  against  the  enemy's 
right,  and  they  were  driven  in  confusion  from  the  field, 
the  whole  body  fleeing  precipitately. 

"  The  rebels,  completely  and  utterly  routed,  abandoned 
their  last  gun  and  two  ammunition- waggons ;  their 
infantry  threw  away  their  arms,  hid  themselves  in  the 
fields  and  ravines,  or  continued  their  flight  headlong 
over  the  country."  1 

Hodson  himself  speaks  of  the  magnificent  charge  made 
by  the  6th  Carabineers  and  9th  Lancers.  "  I  grieve  to 
say,  however,  that  they  paid  most  dearly  for  their  splendid 
courage.  All  their  officers  went  down.  Captain  Ward- 
law,  Mr.  Hudson,  and  Mr.  Vyse,  all  killed,  and  Head,  of 
the  Lancers,  badly  wounded.  The  infantry  were  not 
1  From  Cadet  to  Colonel. 


224  Major  W.  Hodson 

engaged  at  all.  We  attacked  their  flying  cavalry  and 
footmen  on  the  left,  and  made  very  short  work  of  all  we 
could  catch.  I  lost  a  fine  old  risalddr,  our  dear  old  friend 
Muhamma  Reza  Khan's  brother.  None  of  my  officers, 
hurt;  but  my  horse  (Rufus  this  time)  got  a  cut." 

Hodson  had  made  good  use  of  his  opportunity,  "  his 
course,"  writes  Colonel  Innes,  "  being  marked  for  many 
miles  by  killed  and  wounded,  amongst  whom  were  twenty- 
three  of  his  own  troopers.  The  captured  guns  were 
brought  into  camp,  and  it  was  nealy  3  P.M.  before  our 
troops  were  able  to  resume  their  breakfast."  x 

In  his  despatch  to  Major-General  Penny  on  December 
15,  Colonel  Seaton  paid  the  following  tribute  to  the 
services  of  Hodson's  Horse  and  its  dashing  leader:  "  The 
general  will  see  by  the  list  of  casualties  that  Captain 
Hodson's  newly  raised  body  of  horse  was  not  backward, 
and  rendered  excellent  service.  It  could  not  do  less 
under  its  distinguished  commander,  whom  I  beg  particu- 
larly to  mention  to  the  major-general  as  having  on  every 
possible  occasion  rendered  me  the  most  efficient  service, 
whether  in  gaining  information,  reconnoitring  the  country, 
or  leading  his  regiment." 

Before  sunset  of  the  i4th,  a  strong  party  of  Hodson's 
Horse  were  again  in  the  saddle,  pushing  on  to  Bilram, 
whence  they  returned  some  hours  later  with  such  tidings 
as  they  could  gather  by  the  way.  Hodson  reported  that 
straggling  parties  of  the  rebel  cavalry  had  passed  through 
Bilram,  "  and  that  the  headman  of  the  place  would  give 
us  next  morning  all  information  concerning  the  troops  of 
mutineers  in  Khasganj."2 

Marching  on  the  i5th  towards  Khasganj,  Seaton 
learned  from  the  people  at  Bilram  that  "  the  rebels  had 
hastily  evacuated  Khasganj,  part  of  them  crossing  the 
Ganges  at  Kuchla  ferry,  distant  about  sixteen  miles,  and 
part  pushing  on  to  Patiali,  distant  twenty-five  miles  in 
the  direction  of  Fathigarh,  where  there  was  a  large  force 
assembled,  with  a  numerous  artillery,  all  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  Hakim,  the  hereditary  commander-in-chief 
of  the  Nawab  of  Farokhabad." 

1  Innes's  History  of  the  Bengal  European  Regiment,  now  the  Royal 
Munster  Fusiliers.  a  Seaton. 


From  Umbala  to  Fathigarh      225 

"  It  was  fortunate  for  us,"  he  remarks,  "  that  the 
rebels  had  evacuated  Khasganj.  It  is  a  large  town,  filled 
with  strong  well-built  brick  houses,  and  outside  of  it  there 
were  extensive  old  gardens  surrounded  by  earthen  walls 
many  feet  thick,  perfect  small  forts — quite  formidable 
field-works  they  would  have  made.  In  these  gardens, 
which  were  filled  with  large  old  trees  and  a  wilderness  of 
shrubs  and  bushes,  the  rebels  had  encamped;  and  if 
they  had  defended  them  at  all  manfully  they  would,  to 
say  the  least,  have  given  us  some  trouble.  Against  a 
contingency  of  this  kind,  however,  I  was  well  provided, 
having  heavy  guns  and  mortars,  and  two  companies  of 
sappers." 

The  morning  of  the  iyth  saw  Seaton's  crowning  success 
against  the  rebels  at  Patiali.  "  The  enemy,"  says 
Hodson,  "  had  the  boldness  to  await  our  arrival  here  in 
great  force  and  partly  intrenched.  We  attacked  them 
soon  after  8  A.M.,  they  firing  aimlessly  at  us  as  we 
advanced,  our  guns  coming  into  play  with  fine  effect. 
I  then  dashed  into  their  camp  with  my  regiment,  Bishop's 
troop  of  Horse  Artillery  actually  charging  with  us  like 
cavalry  fairly  into  their  camp !  We  drove  them  through 
camp  and  town,  and  through  gardens,  fields,  and  lanes, 
capturing  every  gun  and  all  their  ammunition  and  baggage. 
We  pushed  on  for  six  or  seven  miles,  and  read  them  a 
terrible  lesson.  The  Carabineers  and  my  men  alone 
must  have  killed  some  500  or  600  at  least,  all  sowars  and 
fanatics.  We  wound  up  by  killing  the  Nawab,  who  led 
them  on  his  elephant,  after  a  long  chase  and  an  ingenious 
struggle,  in  which  he  was  fairly  pulled  out  of  his 
howdah." 

Hodson  owned  to  feeling  very  tired  after  eleven  hours 
spent  in  the  saddle.  He  was,  however,  "  delighted  with 
our  day's  work  on  Seaton's  account.  We  have  captured 
thirteen  guns  and  entirely  dispersed  the  enemy.  He 
ought  to  be  made  a  K.C.B.  for  this." l 

"  I  was  not  very  strong,"  says  Seaton,  "  and  nothing 
but  the  excitement  kept  me  up  through  a  hard  day's 
work,  such  as  apparently  lay  before  us,  and  then  only 
1  He  was  made  a  K.C.B.  for  his  services  in  the  Mutiny. 

P 


226  Major  W.  Hodson 

with  the  help  of  an  easy-paced  horse,  placed  at  my 
disposal  by  my  thoughtful  and  noble-hearted  friend 
Hodson." 

In  his  despatch  of  December  18,  Colonel  Sea  ton  again 
begged  Major-General  Penny  to  bring  Major  Hodson 
"  and  his  great  and  important  services  to  the  special 
notice  of  the  comamnder- in-chief." 

After  a  halt  of  three  days  at  Patiali  the  column  returned 
to  its  former  camping-ground  at  Suhawir.  On  the  22nd, 
it  marched  on  to  Khasganj.  As  it  neared  that  place 
Arthur  Cocks,  the  active  Commissioner,  rode  up  to  Seaton 
and  told  him  that  a  notorious  traitor,  Jowahir  Khan,  a 
pensioned  risaldar }  who  had  fought  against  us  at  Patiali, 
had  returned  to  Khasganj  with  one  of  his  sons,  who  had 
been  wounded  in  the  previous  fight.  Calling  up  Hodson, 
the  brigadier  sent  him  off  with  a  troop  of  his  regiment 
to  seize  the  traitor. 

"  In  five  minutes  that  intelligent  and  energetic  officer 
was  off  at  a  sharp  trot,  which  he  soon  increased  to  a 
hand-gallop.  As  the  column  neared  Khasganj,  Hodson 
came  out  to  meet  me.  His  salutation  was, '  I've  got  him, 
colonel.  We  rode  in  at  a  gallop  and  surrounded  his 
house,  burst  open  the  door,  found  the  son  and  killed  him ; 
and  the  traitor  himself,  trying  to  escape,  jumped  over  a 
wall  into  the  arms  of  one  of  my  men.'  Jowahir  Khan 
was  no  ordinary  traitor.  He  had  served  our  Govern- 
ment long,  and  was  not  only  enjoying  the  pension  of  a 
risaldar,  but  the  emoluments  derived  from  the  Order  of 
British  India,  of  which  he  was  a  member." 

On  the  next  day  he  was  arraigned  before  a  military 
court  and  condemned  to  death  by  being  blown  away 
from  a  gun.  The  sentence  was  carried  out  that  evening. 
"  Blowing  away  from  a  gun,"  as  Seaton  remarks,  "is  an 
awful-looking  death,  but  it  must  be  almost  painless — one 
sharp  pang  and  all  over.  It  makes  a  great  impression, 
however,  on  the  spectators,  and  creates  a  greater  thrill 
of  horror  than  any  other  mode  of  execution."  * 

The  captured  guns  were  sent  off  to  Aligarh  under 
charge  of  Major  Eld.    On  arriving  at  Etah  on  the  24th, 
Seaton  learned  that  the  Rajah  of  Mainpuri,  who  had  been 
1  From  Cadet  to  Colonel. 


From  Umbala  to  Fathigarh      227 

raising  troops  and  casting  cannon,  had  now  declared  his 
independence,  and  was  blocking  the  high  road  through 
his  dominions.  By  a  series  of  bold  and  skilful  manoeuvres 
Seaton  speedily  outwitted  his  new  foe. 

"  On  approaching  Mainpuri,"  says  Seaton,  "  we  caught 
a  distant  glimpse  of  the  enemy's  position  away  to  our 
left;  so,  getting  the  cavalry  to  make  a  demonstration  as 
if  we  were  going  to  form  across  and  march  by  the  road, 
and  to  make  as  much  dust  as  possible,  I  quietly  moved 
on  with  the  artillery  and  infantry,  our  march  being  con- 
cealed by  some  mounds,  a  small  village,  and  the  nature 
of  the  ground.  As  we  approached  the  stream  we  came 
in  full  view  of  the  enemy,  who  had  been  firing  at  the 
dust  created  by  the  cavalry.  Immediately  they  saw  us 
well  on  their  left  there  was  a  tremendous  hubbub  and 
great  confusion,  which  was  increased  tenfold  when  the 
artillery,  dashing  through  the  stream,  opened  fire  and 
raked  their  whole  front. 

"  In  a  few  minutes  the  gunners  limbered  up,  crossed 
the  river  again  a  quarter  of  a  mile  lower  down,  and  got 
into  their  rear;  for  the  stream,  making  a  sharp  turn, 
ran  at  right  angles  to  their  flank.  The  enemy  were  so 
thoroughly  cowed  by  our  prompt  and  determined  onset 
that  they  fled  at  once,  followed  by  the  whole  of  the 
cavalry  and  artillery." 

Marching  on  with  his  guns  and  infantry  towards  the 
Rajah's  stronghold,  Seaton  found  it  already  evacuated. 
Of  the  eight  guns  captured  in  the  advance,  six  were 
reported  good  and  serviceable,  and  most  of  these  had 
evidently  come  from  the  foundry  in  the  fort.  In  the 
fort  itself  was  "  a  perfect  gun-foundry,  models  and  moulds 
for  casting  brass  guns,  contrivances  for  boring,  melting- 
furnaces,  and  quantities  of  metal." 

Meanwhile  Hodson's  Horse  had  ridden  in  pursuit  of 
the  flying  foe.  "  We  had  to  ride  hard  to  overtake  them," 
he  writes  on  the  27th.  "  They  flung  away  their  arms, 
and  became  simple  villagers  with  astonishing  rapidity: 
it  would  have  done  credit  to  the  stage.  No  one  hurt  but 
two  of  my  sowars.  We  have  got  all  their  guns,  and  the 
Doab  is  clear  now  to  Fathigarh." 

Writing  home  to  his  sister  on  Christmas  Day,  Hodson 


228  Major  W.  Hodson 

speaks  of  the  fatality  which  still  prevents  their  spending 
that  anniversary  together: — 

"  My  heart  is  full  of  deep  and  earnest  prayer  for  you 
and  all  my  loved  ones,  and  I  try  to  hope  that  our  next 
Christmas  may  be  spent  at  home. 

"  We  march  to  Karauli  to-morrow,  and  shall  be  at 
Mainpuri  on  the  27th,  there  to  halt  for  a  few  days  until 
the  convoy  is  collected  and  we  can  hear  from  the  com- 
mander-in-chief.  We  have  just  heard  that  May  hew  is 
the  new  adjutant-general,  and  Norman  deputy.  This 
last  is  a  splendid  thing,  and  shows  Sir  Colin's  determina- 
tion to  put  the  right  man  in  the  right  place,  in  spite  of 
all  the  red-tape  and  seniority  systems  in  the  world!  I 
can  hear  nothing  of  our  dear  friend  Napier,  but  I  suppose 
he  is  with  Sir  James  Outram." 

During  the  halt  at  Mainpuri,  Seaton  learned  that  Sir 
Colin  Campbell  had  reached  Gursahaiganj,  on  his  march 
to  Fathigarh. 

"  As  Hodson  volunteered  to  open  communication  with 
him,  I  furnished  him  with  despatches,  and  sent  him  off 
on  the  3oth,  accompanied  by  Lieutenant  M'Dowell,  and 
escorted  by  a  small  party  of  his  regiment.  The  chief 
was  reported  to  be  forty  miles  from  Bewar.  On  the 
morning  of  the  3ist,  I  marched  to  Bowgong,  and  in  the 
evening  one  of  Hodson's  sowars  rode  in  to  say  that 
Captain  Hodson  and  Lieutenant  M'Dowell  had  left  part 
of  their  escort  at  Bewar  and  had  gone  on  to  Chibramau, 
where  they  had  left  the  remainder  of  it  and  ridden  on 
alone;  that  after  they  had  left,  a  body  of  the  rebel 
cavalry  had  entered  the  town,  surprised  the  escort,  and 
cut  it  up;  and  that  the  gentlemen  had  not  since  been 
heard  of!  Although  I  knew  that  Hodson  and  M'Dowell 
were  two  of  the  most  wide-awake  officers  in  the  army, 
I  could  not  but  feel  very  uneasy  about  them;  so  I  sent 
off  about  one  hundred  of  the  sowars  under  an  officer,  and 
marched  myself  an  hour  before  daybreak  next  morning. 

"  Every  one  felt  uneasy,  for  Hodson's  brilliant  qualities 
as  a  soldier  had  made  themselves  felt  by  all.  So  when 
at  daybreak  a  sowar  rode  up  and  reported  that  he  had 
returned  safe  to  Bewar,  the  relief  from  anxiety  was  felt 
by  all  in  camp."  x 

1  From  Cadet  to  Colonel. 


From  Umbala  to  Fathigarh      229 

Leaving  fifty  of  his  men  at  Bewar,  fourteen  miles  from 
Mainpuri,  Hodson  sped  on  with  the  remainder  some 
fourteen  miles  farther,  to  Chibramau.  There  he  left  the 
remaining  twenty-five,  and  pushed  on  with  M'Dowell 
alone  to  Gursahaiganj .  But  the  end  of  their  ride  was 
not  yet,  for  there  they  learned  that  the  commander-in- 
chief  had  that  day  marched  some  fifteen  miles  farther  to 
Miran-ke-Serai.  "  This,"  writes  M'Dowell,  "  was  very 
annoying,  but  there  was  no  help  for  it.  So  we  struck  out 
as  fast  as  we  could,  the  more  so  as  we  heard  that  the 
enemy,  700  strong,  with  four  guns,  was  within  two  miles 
of  us." 

About  4  P.M.,  after  a  ride  of  fifty-five  miles  through 
hostile  country,  Hodson  and  M'Dowell  reached  the  camp 
of  the  commander-in-chief.  Hodson  "  found  him  wonder- 
fully fresh  and  well,  and  met  with  a  most  cordial  and 
hearty  welcome  from  him,  General  Mansfield,  and  in  fact 
from  all.  Bruce  and  Mackinnon  all  fat  and  well.  Hope 
Grant  was  most  cordial.  I  was  much  pleased  with  all  T 
heard  and  saw;  the  sight  of  the  sailors  and  the  High- 
landers did  my  eyes  and  heart  good.  Such  dear  wild- 
looking  fellows  as  these  jack-tars  are,  but  so  respectful 
and  proper  in  conduct  and  manner. 

"  Our  dear  Napier  is  wounded,  I  grieve  to  say,  though, 
thank  God,  not  badly,  and  is  left  behind  at  Cawnpore. . . . 
Sir  Colin  was  very  complimentary,  and  my  men,  under 
Gough,  have  won  great  distinction  and  universal  praise. 
I  rejoiced  to  see  my  old  friend  Norman  in  his  proper  place, 
the  de  facto  adjutant-general  of  the  army;  and  Hope 
Grant  has  done  everything  admirably." 

"  This  ride,"  says  Sir  Hugh  Gough,  "  was  a  most  gallant 
achievement,  though  only  one  of  Hodson's  many  gallant 
deeds.  It  was  a  ride  for  life;  and  yet  when  he  reached 
the  chief's  camp  he  was  as  cool  and  calm  as  if  he  had 
only  ridden  from  one  brigade  to  another.  This  cool 
insouciance  was  one  of  Hodson's  great  characteristics: 
whether  in  the  heat  of  action  or  sitting  at  mess,  he  always 
seemed  the  same — nothing  appeared  to  put  him  out.  .  .  .. 
He  had  a  wonderful  knowledge  and  command  of  the 
native  language,  and  was  a  thorough  master  of  all  the 
various  idioms,  phrases,  and  accents  peculiar  to  the 


230  Major  W.  Hodson 

different  districts  through  which  we  were  campaigning; 
and  by  this  knowledge,  and  his  own  keen  commanding 
way  of  applying  it,  he  was  able  to  obtain  the  surest  and 
best  information.  Sir  Colin  was  much  pleased  at  the 
result  of  his  ride,  and  the  opportunity  of  obtaining  from 
such  a  reliable  source  the  information  he  was  so  anxious 
to  gain."  1 

Hodson  was  closeted  for  some  time  with  Sir  Colin 
Campbell,  who  invited  him  and  M'Dowell  to  dinner  in 
his  tent. 

During  that  afternoon  —  to  quote  the  words  of  a 
sergeant  in  Sir  Colin's  old  regiment,  the  93rd  High- 
landers— "  a  man  of  my  company  rushed  into  the  tent 
calling,  '  Come,  boys,  and  see  Hodson !  He  and  Sir 
Colin  are  in  front  of  the  camp :  Sir  Colin  is  showing  him 
round,  and  the  smile  on  the  old  chief's  face  shows  how 
he  appreciates  his  companion.'  I  hastened  to  the  front 
of  the  camp,  and  was  rewarded  by  having  a  good  look  at 
Hodson;  and,  as  the  man  who  had  called  us  had  said, 
I  could  see  that  he  had  made  a  favourable  impression  on 
Sir  Colin.  Little  did  I  then  think  that  in  less  than  three 
short  months  I  should  see  Hodson  receive  his  death- 
wound,  and  that  thirty-five  years  after  I  should  be  one 
of  the  few  spared  to  give  evidence  to  save  his  fair  fame 
from  undeserved  slander."  2 

On  entering  the  chief's  tent,  M'Dowell  "found  Hodson 
seated  by  Sir  Colin,  and  carrying  on  a  most  animated 
conversation  with  him.  We  had  a  very  pleasant  dinner, 
and  at  8  P.M.  started  on  our  long  ride  back."  They 
reached  Gursahaiganj  without  an  incident,  and  were  half 
way  thence  to  Chibramau  when  they  were  hailed  by  a 
fakeer  to  whom  Hodson  had  given  alms  on  his  former 
journey.  From  the  grateful  Brahman  they  learned  that 
the  twenty-five  sowars  left  by  Hodson  at  Chibramau  had 
been  attacked  by  a  party  of  rebels  and  driven  away  with 
the  loss  of  several  of  their  number.  He  had  reason  also 
to  believe  that  some  of  the  rebels  were  lurking  about  the 
road,  in  the  hope  of  intercepting  the  two  Englishmen. 

"  We  deliberated,"  says  M'Dowell,  "  what  we  should 

1  Old  Memories. 
*  Forbes-Mitchell's  Reminiscences  of  the  Great  Mutiny. 


From  Umbala  to  Fathigarh      231 

do,  and  Hodson  decided  we  should  ride  on  at  all  risks. 
'  At  the  worst/  he  said,  '  we  can  gallop  back;  but  we'll 
try  and  push  through.'  The  native  came  with  us,  and 
we  started.  I  have  seen  a  few  adventures  in  my  time, 
but  must  confess  this  was  the  most  trying  one  I  had  ever 
engaged  in.  It  was  a  piercing  cold  night,  with  a  bright 
moon  and  a  wintry  sky,  and  a  cold  wind  every  now  and 
then  sweeping  by  and  chilling  us  to  the  very  marrow. 
Taking  our  horses  off  the  hard  road  on  to  the  side  where 
it  was  soft,  so  that  the  noise  of  their  footfalls  could 
be  less  distinctly  heard,  we  went  silently  on  our  way, 
anxiously  listening  for  every  sound  that  fell  upon  our 
ears,  and  straining  our  sight  to  see  if  behind  the  dark 
trees  dotted  along  the  road  we  could  discern  the  forms 
of  the  enemy  waiting  in  ambush  to  seize  us." 

As  they  drew  near  Chibramau  the  guide  whispered, 
"  They  are  there,"  pointing  to  a  garden  in  a  clump  of 
trees  in  front.  "  Distinctly  we  heard  a  faint  hum  in  the 
distance.  .  .  .  Slowly  and  silently  we  passed  through  the 
village,  in  the  main  street  of  which  we  saw  the  dead 
body  of  one  of  our  men  lying  stark  and  stiff  and  ghastly 
in  the  moonlight;  and  on  emerging  from  the  other  side, 
dismissed  our  faithful  guide,  with  directions  to  come  to 
our  camp — and  then,  putting  spurs  to  our  horses,  we 
galloped  for  our  dear  life  to  Bewar,  breathing  more  freely 
as  every  stride  bore  us  away  from  the  danger  now  past. 
We  reached  Bewar  at  about  two  o'clock  A.M.,  and  found 
a  party  of  our  men  sent  out  to  look  for  us.  Our  troopers 
had  ridden  in  to  say  they  had  been  attacked  and  driven 
back,  and  that  we  had  gone  on  alone,  and  all  concluded 
we  must  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  We  flung 
ourselves  down  on  charpoys  and  slept  till  daylight,  when 
our  column  marched  in,  and  we  received  the  hearty 
congratulations  of  all  on  our  escape." 

The  two  men  had  ridden  ninety-four  miles  since  six 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  3oth,  Hodson  himself 
having  ridden  seventy-two  miles  on  one  horse.  "  We 
astonished  the  headquarter  people  not  a  little,"  he  says. 
A  few  hours  later  on  the  morning  of  the  3ist,  Seaton's 
column  marched  into  camp  at  Bewar. 

Some   days  afterwards,  Seaton   scertained   that  the 


232  Major  W.  Hodson 

horsemen  from  whom  Hodson  had  so  narrowly  escaped, 
belonged  to  a  body  of  insurgents  that  had  just  been 
dispersed  by  Brigadier  Walpole's  operations  along  the 
banks  of  the  Jumna.  Unable  to  cross  that  river,  they 
had  resolved  to  try  and  make  their  way  across  the  Ganges 
into  Oudh.  How  dangerous  was  the  road  along  which 
Hodson  and  M'Dowell  had  ridden  may  be  gathered  from 
the  fact  that  many  of  the  spies  who  carried  letters  from 
one  or  another  of  the  columns  moving  along  the  Doab 
were  either  killed  by  the  way  or  failed  to  reach  their 
destination. 

It  was  fortunate  also  for  Hodson  that  the  rebels  had 
refrained  from  attacking  him  on  his  first  ride  through 
Chibramau.  "  We  rode  in  at  one  end  of  Chibramau 
in  the  morning,"  says  M'Dowell,  "  they  rode  in  at  the 
other.  They  saw  us,  but  we  did  not  see  them,  as  we 
were  on  unfavourable  ground.  Thinking  we  were  the 
advanced  guard  of  our  column,  they  retired  hastily  to  a 
village  some  two  koss  off.  Meanwhile  Hodson  and  I, 
unconscious  of  their  vicinity,  rode  on.  They  sent  out 
scouts  and  ascertained  that  only  twenty-five  of  our 
sowars  were  in  the  village,  upon  which  they  resumed 
their  march,  sending  a  party  to  cut  up  our  men,  and,  I 
suppose,  to  wait  for  our  return." 

In  a  hurried  letter  to  his  wife  on  New  Year's  Day  of 
1858,  Hodson  writes:  "M'Dowell  wrote  you  a  capital 
account  of  our  expedition  to  Miran-ke-Serai,  which  you 
will  get  before  this  reaches  you.  He  is  game  to  the  back- 
bone, but  he  has  not  the  physical  stamina  for  such  an 
adventure  as  that.  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  lost  three  of  my 
men  killed  and  four  wounded,  and  my  horse,  saddle,  and 
bridle  (English)  were  lost.  I  wish  you  could  coax  Captain 
Swinton  out  of  that  horse  he  got  of  General  Anson's: 
life,  and  more  than  life,  sometimes  depends  on  being  well 
mounted." 

It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  the  faithful  fakeer,  whose 
timely  information  had  saved  the  two  officers  from  almost 
certain  death,  was  handsomely  rewarded,  and  obtained 
a  post  in  the  public  service. 

On  the  morning  of  January  2,  Seaton  himself,  in 
company  with  Light  and  Hodson,  rode  over  to  the  chief's 


From  Umbala  to  Fathigarh      233 

camp  near  Gursahaiganj,  on  the  road  to  Fathigarh.  "  The 
chief,"  says  Seaton,  "  had  forced  the  passage  of  the  Kali 
Nadi,  and  we  came  in  for  the  tail  of  the  fight,  for  there 
were  still  dropping  shots  in  every  direction."  "  We  did 
not  get  back,"  writes  Hodson  on  the  3rd,  "  until  two  this 
morning,  very  weary  and  tired,  and  now  comes  an  order,, 
just  as  I  am  sitting  down  to  write,  for  my  regiment  to 
march  at  once  to  join  the  chief's  camp  near  Fathigarh; 
so  I  am  again  reduced  to  the  mere  announcement  that 
I  am  safe  and  well.  I  have  just  heard  that  the  rebels 
have  bolted  from  Fathigarh." 


CHAPTER  XIX 

FROM   FATHIGARH  TO   CAWNPORE 
JANUARY-MARCH    1858 

AFTER  a  night  march  of  twenty-five  miles,  Hodson  and 
his  sowars  joined  Sir  Colin  Campbell  on  January  4  at 
Fathigarh,  which  was  found  abandoned  as  he  had  fore- 
told. "  Our  troops/'  he  writes,  "  are  all  concentrating 
here,  not  a  shot  having  been  fired." 

Three  days  later,  Seaton's  column  marched  into  camp. 
After  more  than  three  months  of  detachment  duty, 
Cough's  squadron  had  now  rejoined  its  regimental  head- 
quarters, while  its  gallant  leader  returned,  not  without 
some  natural  regret,  to  his  old  position  as  adjutant  of 
Hodson's  Horse.  Hodson  was  greatly  pleased  with  the 
smart  appearance  of  the  squadron,  "  and  gave  us,"  says 
Gough,  "  considerable  kudos  for  our  maintenance  of  the 
good  name  of  the  regiment,  accounts  of  which  he  had 
heard  from  the  commander-in-chief.  He  had  been  a 
little  annoyed  with  me  for  not  having  kept  him  more 
fully  acquainted  with  all  we  had  been  doing,  and  I  had 
been  slack  in  sending  in  the  usual  official  information; 
but  I  often  had  not  the  means  of  so  doing,  and  even  in 
those  days  I  fear  I  was  not  over-fond  of  '  writing.'  How- 
ever, any  little  feeling  of  anger  on  his  part  soon  vanished 
in  his  pleasure  at  finding  we  had  brought  anything  but 
discredit  on  '  Hodson's  Horse.'  "  1 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  Gough  was  again  to 
lead  his  men,  in  concert  with  Lieutenant  John  Watson  of 
the  ist  Punjab  Cavalry,  on  special  service  about  Miran- 
ke-Serai,  in  hopes  of  frustrating  the  attempt  of  the  in- 
famous Nana  Sahib  to  escape  from  Oudh  into  Central 
India. 

Meanwhile,  on  January  6,  Hodson  himself  started  on 
a  punishing  expedition  with  a  brigade  commanded  by 
1  Old  Memories, 
234 


From  Fathigarh  to  Gawnpore     235 

Colonel  Adrian  Hope.  At  Palamau,  in  the  Shamsabad 
district,  a  great  many  rebels,  including  their  leader,  had 
been  arrested  by  the  civil  police  and  condemned  by  the 
Civil  Commissioner  to  death.  The  doomed  men,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Forbes-Mitchell,  were  marched  in  batches  up 
to  a  large  tree  of  the  banian  species,  from  whose  spreading 
branches  they  were  hanged,  a  dozen  at  a  time.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  6th,  this  dismal  work  began,  and  by 
daylight  of  the  next  morning  130  men  might  be  seen 
hanging  from  one  tree. 

Then  happened  an  incident  which  Mr.  Forbes-Mitchell 
has  cited  in  defence  of  Hodson  from  the  charges  of 
cruelty  and  bloodthirstiness  afterwards  levelled  at  his 
hero.  "  During  the  afternoon  of  the  day  of  which  I 
write,  Hodson  visited  the  squadron  of  his  regiment  form- 
ing the  cavalry  of  the  Civil  Commissioner's  guard.  Just 
at  the  time  of  his  visit  the  Commissioner  wanted  a  hang- 
man, and  asked  if  any  man  of  the  93rd  would  volunteer 
for  the  job,  stating  as  an  inducement  that  all  valuables 
in  the  way  of  rings  or  money  found  on  the  persons  of  the 
condemned  would  become  the  property  of  the  executioner. 
No  one  volunteering  for  the  job,  the  Commissioner  asked 
Jack  Brian,  a  big  tall  fellow  who  was  the  right-hand  man 
of  the  company,  if  he  would  act  as  executioner.  Jack 
Brian  turned  round  with  a  look  of  disgust,  saying :  '  What 
do  ye  tak'  us  for?  We  of  the  93rd  enlisted  to  fight  men 
with  arms  in  their  hands.  I  widna'  become  yer  hangman 
for  all  the  loot  in  India ! '  Captain  Hodson  was  standing 
close  by,  and  hearing  the  answer,  said,  '  Well  answered, 
my  brave  fellow.  I  wish  to  shake  hands  with  you,'  which 
he  did.  Then  turning  to  Captain  Dawson,  Hodson  said: 
'  I'm  sick  of  work  of  this  kind.  I'm  glad  I'm  not  on 
duty  ';  and  he  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  off."  x 

Hodson  returned  to  Fathigarh  on  the  i2th,  "  not  having 
effected  much,  though  we  frightened  many,  I  have  no 
doubt."  "  A  tedious  review  "  on  the  next  day  was  followed 
by  an  interview  and  a  dinner  with  his  chief.  "  Nothing," 
he  says,  "  can  be  kinder  or  more  cordial  than  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  and  General  Mansfield." 

Next  morning  Hodson's  Horse  were  encamped  on  the 
1  Forbes-Mitchell's  Reminiscences. 


236  Major  W.  Hodson 

Ramganga,  a  confluent  of  the  Ganges,  on  the  road  to 
Bareilly.  Here  Walpole's  brigade,  to  which  he  was  now 
attached,  stood  fast  for  several  days,  preparing  to  force 
the  passage  of  the  river  into  Rohilkhand.  "We  have 
enough  troops,"  he  writes,  "to  eat  up  Rohilkhand; 
whether  we  (i.e.,  my  regiment)  partake  of  the  '  finish  ' 
in  Oudh  or  not,  no  one  can  pretend  to  foretell." 

Meanwhile  the  plundering  propensities  of  some  of  his 
men  were  giving  their  commander  "  much  occupation 
and  annoyance."  The  rascals,  he  complains,  "  will  not 
discriminate  between  an  enemy's  property,  which  is  fair 
game,  and  that  of  the  villagers  and  cultivators  of  the 
soil.  I  have  several  times  been  obliged  to  bring  them 
up  with  a  sharp  hand  to  save  myself  from  discredit.  I 
sent  three  sowars  to-day  to  the  brigadier  with  evidence 
and  proof  enough  to  hang  them,  but  he  begged  me  to 
dispose  of  the  matter  summarily  myself;  but  as  I  did 
not  choose  to  be  judge,  jury,  and  hangman  all  in  one,  they 
saved  their  lives  at  the  expense  of  their  backs,  though  I 
believe  the  punishment  was  greater  to  me  than  to  them, 
for  I  abhor  flogging,  and  never  resort  to  it  but  in  the 
extremest  cases.  Still  I  must  be  obeyed  by  these  wild 
hordes  coute  que  coute  ;  and  when  reason  and  argument 
fail,  they  must  learn  that  I  will  not  weakly  refrain  from 
sterner  measures.  I  am  happy  to  find  Sir  Colin  ready 
to  back  me  a  entrance,  so  as  to  maintain  discipline." 

"  I  had  to  go  over  to  see  the  chief  yesterday,"  he 
writes  on  January  19,  "  and  did  not  return  till  night. 
I  also  saw  good  Colonel  Seaton  and  Becher,  who  (the 
last)  starts  in  a  day  or  two  for  home  and  England." 

"  Our  friend  Colonel  Seaton,"  he  writes  on  the  23rd, 
"  is  to  have  command  of  a  district  to  be  formed  of  Aligarh, 
Fathigarh,  Mainpuri,  and  the  post  at  Miran-ke-Seria. 
It  is  a  very  honourable  and  important  post;  but  he 
would  prefer,  and  I  for  him,  a  more  active  command." 

From  Fathigarh,  on  the  26th,  Hodson's  Horse  marched 
with  Adrian  Hope's  brigade  towards  Shamsabad  against 
a  strong  body  of  rebels  who  held  the  ford  across  the 
Ganges  at  Suraj  Ghat.  A  sharp  fight  on  the  27th  ended 
in  the  capture  of  all  the  enemy's  guns,  four  in  number, 
and  the  slaughter  of  300  of  their  men. 


From  Fathigarh  to  Cawnpore     237 

Hodson  himself,  writing  with  a  pencil  in  his  left  hand, 
thus  describes  his  share  in  that  day's  fighting: — 

"  My  usual  fortune  deserted  me  on  the  2-jth,  at  Sham- 
sabad,  for  I  got  two  sabre-cuts  on  my  right  arm,  which 
have  reduced  me  to  this  very  sinister  style  of  writing. 
We  had  a  very  stiff  fight  of  it,  as  we  were  far  in  advance 
of  the  rest  of  the  troops,  and  had  to  charge  a  very  superior 
body  of  the  mutineer  cavalry ;  but  there  was  nothing  for 
it  but  fighting,  as,  had  we  not  attacked  them,  they  would 
have  got  in  amongst  our  guns.  We  were  only  three  officers 
and  about  180  horsemen — my  poor  friend  and  second  in 
command,  M'Dowell,  having  received  a  mortal  wound  a 
few  minutes  before  we  charged.  It  was  a  terrible  melee 
for  some  time,  and  we  were  most  wonderfully  preserved. 
However,  we  gave  them  a  very  proper  thrashing,  and 
killed  their  leaders.  Two  out  of  the  three  of  us  were 
wounded,  and  five  of  my  men  killed  and  eleven  wounded, 
besides  eleven  horses.  My  horse  had  three  sabre-cuts, 
and  I  got  two,  which  I  consider  a  rather  unfair  share. 
The  commander-in-chief  is  very  well  satisfied,  I  hear, 
with  the  day's  work,  and  is  profusely  civil  and  kind 
to  me.  .  .  . 

"  I  hope  to  return  to  Umbala  when  this  war  is  over, 
to  be  refitted  and  get  my  men  trained  and  drilled,  which 
is  very  necessary.  I  do  hope  to  be  able  to  get  home 
and  see  your  dear  faces  once  more  as  soon  as  our  great 
task  is  accomplished.  I  want  a  change  after  twelve  years 
of  work,  and  I  want  to  try  what  home  and  good  treatment 
will  do  for  my  ankle,  which  is  very  bad;  in  fact,  I  am 
unable  to  walk  a  hundred  yards  without  pain.  Well,  I 
think  I  have  done  pretty  well  with  my  left  hand.  They 
say  I  shall  be  well  in  six  weeks.  /  say  in  ten  days." 

What  grieved  him  most  was  "the  loss  of  poor  Mac; 
he  was  invaluable  to  me  as  a  brilliant  soldier,  a  true 
friend,  and  thorough  gentleman  —  I  mourn  as  for  a 
brother." 

"  My  regiment,"  writes  Sir  Hugh  Gough,  who  arrived 
with  his  squadron  too  late  to  share  in  the  actual  scrim- 
mage, "  came  in  for  some  very  smart  fighting,  but  with 
some  sad  results — in  the  death  of  Charlie  M'Dowell,  our 
second  in  command,  who  was  killed  by  almost  the  first 


238  Major  W.  Hodson 

round-shot  fired  by  the  enemy,  and  in  Hodson  himself 
being  severely  wounded  twice  by  sabre-cuts  on  his  arm. 
My  brother  (Charles),  I  heard,  had  two  narrow  escapes — 
one  from  a  spent  bullet  which  a  rebel  sowar  had  fired 
point-blank  at  him ;  the  other  from  a  spear-wound,  which 
a  man  was  in  the  act  of  delivering  when  Hodson  came 
up  and  disposed  of  his  adversary.  Altogether  they 
appeared  to  have  had  a  very  rough  melee,  and  I  was 
much  disappointed  in  being  just  too  late."  x 

On  February  i,  Sir  Colin  Campbell  began  his  march 
upon  Lucknow  by  way  of  Cawnpore.  It  was  not  until 
three  days  later  that  Hodson  found  himself  free  to  follow 
in  the  same  direction.  Seaton  appears  to  have  felt 
deeply  the  parting  from  his  old  comrades,  and  especially 
from  Hodson  himself.  "  All  through  the  siege  of  Delhi 
we  had  shared  the  same  tent,  and  there  was  something 
like  a  community  of  goods  between  us.  When  I  was 
wounded  he  had  tended  me  with  anxious  care  and  kind- 
ness, and  when  under  my  command  in  the  column  he  had 
served  me  with  the  devotion  of  a  brother,  ever  ready  to 
further  my  views  to  the  utmost  of  his  power,  never  spar- 
ing himself  where  duty  was  to  be  done.  He  was  the 
very  perfection  of  a  commander  of  irregular  cavalry — 
one  of  those  men  who,  from  sound  judgment,  high  courage, 
strength  of  constitution,  skill  in  the  use  of  weapons,  and 
intuitive  knowledge  of  human  nature,  are  fitted  to  be  the 
eyes  and  ears  of  an  army,  or  to  plan  and  carry  out  a 
bold  and  dashing  enterprise."  2 

It  was  the  last  time  that  these  two  friends  were  to 
meet  on  this  earth.  On  the  5th  of  February,  Hodson 
writes  from  Jalalabad,  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Road  to 
Cawnpore:  "Nothing  can  be  more  favourable  than  the 
state  of  my  wounds,  and  I  have  felt  scarcely  any  in- 
convenience from  travelling.  I  am  fortunate  in  having 
Colonel  Burn  for  a  travelling  companion  —  pleasant, 
intelligent,  and  warm-hearted.  He  drives  me  in  his 
buggy,  and  we  breakfast  together  al  fresco.  Fancy  the 
Carabineers  of  poor  Captain  Wardlaw's  squadron  sending 
a  deputation,  headed  by  sergeant,  to  say  on  the  part 
of  the  men  how  grieved  they  were  that  I  was  hurt,  and 

1  Old  Memories.  *  From  Cadet  to  Colonel. 


From  Fathigarh  to  Cawnpore     239 

to  express  their  hope  that  I  should  soon  be  well  and  in 
the  field  again.  I  confess  these  things  are  more  gratify- 
ing to  me  than  any  mention  in  despatches." 

On  the  Qth,  Hodson  reached  Cawnpore,  where  he  found 
time  to  foment  his  arm,  which  had  become  inflamed 
from  the  effects  of  his  journey.  On  the  loth,  Hodson's 
Horse  crossed  the  Ganges  and  encamped  at  Unao  with 
the  leading  brigades  of  Campbell's  army.  "  Our  friend 
[Napier],"  he  says,  "  is  chief  engineer  with  the  force,  and 
a  brigadier  to  boot.  I  hope  to  see  him  in  a  day  or  two."' 
During  the  halt  at  this  place,  Hodson  sent  Hugh  Gough 
back  to  Cawnpore  to  bring  our  arrears  of  pay  for  the 
regiment. 

It  was  now  that  Gough  made  his  first  acquaintance 
with  Colonel  Robert  Napier,  to  whom  Hodson  had  given 
him  a  letter  of  introduction.  That  great  soldier  received 
him  "  with  the  kindness  he  never  failed  to  show  to  me 
in  all  the  years  I  knew  him  and  served  under  him  in 
after-life.  ...  He  was  one  of  Hodson's  greatest  friends, 
and  I  have  always  considered  this  fact  a  strong  proof 
of  Hodson's  acquittal  of  the  serious  charges  brought 
against  him.  Napier  would  never  have  admitted  an 
unworthy  man  to  his  friendship."  l 

Writing  home  to  his  sister  on  the  nth,  Hodson  tells 
her  not  to  buoy  herself  up  with  the  hope  of  honours  for 
him.  "  I  shall  be  a  brevet-major,  and  nothing  more, 
I  expect.  It  seems  the  authorities  here  never  sent  home- 
a  list  of  men  recommended  for  honours;  and  the  home 
authorities  have  been  waiting  until  they  get  one.  '  Hinc 
illae  lacrymse ! '  And  we  shall  all  suffer  by  the  delay  in 
more  ways  than  one.  But  we  are  certainly  to  have  prize- 
money,  and  this  with  the  batta  will  take  us  home  this 
time  next  year,  if  not  sooner.  .  .  .  Dear,  dear  home, 
sadly  changed  and  contracted  since  I  left  it,  but  home 
still,  and  dearer  than  ever,  since  the  dearest  part  of 
myself  will  accompany  me.  All  old  home  memories 
were  so  vividly  revived  yesterday  by  Charles  Harland's 
visit,  and  an  extract  he  read  me  from  a  letter  from  his 
brother,  describing  the  enthusiasm  of  the  old  people  at 
Colwich  [his  father's  old  parish],  when  the  news  arrived 
1  Old  Memories. 


240  Major  W.  Hodson 

that  the  King  of  Delhi  was  our  prisoner,  and  how  they 
came  to  inquire  whether  it  was  really  their  '  Master 
William  '  who  had  done  it." 

On  the  1 2th,  he  had  begun  to  hold  his  pen  once  more 
in  his  right  hand,  and  hopes  to  be  again  on  horseback 
in  a  few  days. 

"  The  scar  on  my  arm,"  he  tells  his  wife,  "  is  a  very 
ugly  one,  and  will  mark  me  for  life;  but  then,  as  I  am 
not  a  lady  to  wear  short  sleeves,  it  does  not  signify.  .  .  . 

"  It  will  be  some  days  yet  before  the  whole  force  is 
collected  at  Alambagh.  Captain  Peel  has  just  gone 
by  with  his  sailors  and  their  enormous  ship  guns,  68- 
pounders!  I  have  little  doubt  but  that  Lucknow  will 
be  in  our  hands  before  another  month  is  over;  and  then 
I  shall  do  my  utmost  to  get  my  regiment  sent  back  to 
Umbala  to  be  formed  and  drilled,  which  it  wants  badly. 
I  only  wonder  it  does  as  well  as  it  has  done.  I  could 
hardly  take  any  other  appointment,  or  even  go  home, 
until  I  had  completed  this  task;  and  I  like  my  regiment, 
and,  what  is  even  more  to  the  purpose,  the  regiment  likes 
me,  and  would  follow  me  any  and  every  where,  I  do 
believe." 

The  inflammation  of  which  he  had  lately  spoken 
turned  out  to  be  erysipelas.  But  "  as  it  is,"  he  writes 
on  the  i4th,  "  I  am  actually  nearer  to  a  total  cure  than 
the  men  (Sikhs  even)  who  were  wounded  the  same  day. 
My  abstinence  from  spirit-drinking  has  stood  me  in  good 
stead." 

February  16  proved  indeed  for  Hodson  a  red-letter 
day.  He  had  at  last  seen  his  friend  Napier,  who  rode 
over  with  Sir  Colin  Campbell  to  the  camp  at  Unao. 
<c  He  is  looking  better,  but  older,  than  when  we  parted; 
but  his  charming  affectionate  manner  is  as  nice  as  ever. 
God  bless  him!  I  do  love  him  dearly,  as  if  he  were 
indeed  my  born  brother.  A  note  from  him  arrived  while 
he  was  here:  it  had  been  three  days  going  ten  miles! 
Sir  Colin  was  most  kind  and  cordial,  and  prophesies  I 
shall  soon  be  lieutenant-colonel.  I  told  him  I  feared 
there  was  small  hope  of  that,  unless  my  majority 
could  be  counted  as  for  the  Punjab  campaign,  as  Lord 
Dalhousie  promised,  but  that  it  had  not  been  put  on 


From  Fathigarh  to  Cawnpore     241 

record.  He  immediately  said,  '  Oh,  I'll  do  that  with  the 
greatest  pleasure.  Let  me  have  a  memorandum  of  your 
services,  and  I'll  do  all  I  can  for  you.'  They  do  say  I 
shall  have  the  Victoria  Cross;  but  I  do  not  believe  it." 

On  the  1 8th,  he  rode  over  to  Cawnpore  to  have  "  a 
big  talk  "  with  Napier.  The  big  talk  lasted  for  two  days. 
On  the  2oth,  he  returned  to  Unao,  accompanied  for  part 
of  the  way  by  Colonels  Napier  and  Lugard,  the  latter  of 
whom  had  just  been  appointed  to  the  command  of  a 
division  as  brigadier-general.  By  that  time  Hodson  had 
learned  that  the  delay  in  gazetting  him  as  brevet-major 
"  was  an  accident,  not  owing  to  the  home  authorities. 
It  has  gone  home  now,  and  my  name  is  in  it,  Sir  Colin 
told  me." 

On  the  morning  of  the  25th,  Hodson's  Horse  had 
arrived  at  Alambagh  after  a  "  terribly  dusty  "  march  of 
thirty-six  miles.  It  was  here,  about  five  miles  from 
Lucknow,  that  a  strong  British  garrison,  commanded 
by  the  noble  Sir  James  Outram,  had  for  three  months 
past  kept  sleepless  watch  over  the  movements  of  many 
thousand  armed  mutineers,  and  had  brilliantly  baffled 
every  attempt  to  circumvent,  dislodge,  or  crush  them 
by  sheer  weight  of  numbers.  Hodson's  officers  had 
hardly  time  to  swallow  a  cup  of  tea  and  a  poached  egg 
when  the  order  came  to  turn  out  against  a  large  body  of 
rebels  who  were  threatening  the  British  flank  and  rear. 

"  This,"  says  Sir  Hugh  Gough,  "  was  my  first  day  in 
action  with  Hodson's  Horse  as  a  complete  regiment.  .  .  . 
When  I  say  a  regiment,  I  might  almost  call  it  a  brigade, 
for  by  Hodson's  influence  and  the  magic  power  of  his 
name  recruits  from  the  Punjab  had  come  flocking  in, 
and  I  should  say  we  were  nearly  a  thousand  strong.  We 
were  complete  in  officers,  and  altogether  made  a  brave 
show  as  we  advanced  to  our  work."  It  was  not  long 
before  great  masses  of  the  enemy  were  seen  moving 
across  our  front — all  of  them  mutineers,  most  of  them 
infantry  arrayed  in  uniform.  "  Our  rapid  approach," 
adds  Gough,  "  had  a  great  effect  upon  them.  They 
seemed  to  make  no  effort  to  rally  and  stand,  and  as  we 
advanced  and  charged  we  got  well  into  them,  and  the 
whole  affair  seemed  over.  The  rearmost  gun  was  in  our 

Q 


242  Major  W.  Hodson 

possession,  and  the  enemy,  as  far  as  we  had  encountered 
them,  in  full  flight." 

At  that  moment,  however,  owing  to  the  fierceness  of 
the  charge  and  pursuit,  Hodson's  Horse  got  out  of  hand 
and  broke  into  scattered  parties.  The  enemy  rallied 
round  their  remaining  gun,  and  poured  grape  and  volleys 
of  musketry  into  their  disordered  ranks.  "  Our  men, 
gallant  and  forward  in  pursuit  or  a  charge,  could  not 
stand  being  hammered  at  a  disadvantage.  There  was 
a  din  of  shouting  and  noise,  officers  doing  their  best  to 
bring  the  men  up,  but  all  to  no  effect,  and  it  looked  sadly 
probable  that  '  Hodson's  Horse '  would  in  their  turn 
retreat. 

"  Hodson  at  this  crisis  managed  to  get  a  few  brave 
spirits  together — not  more  than  a  dozen.  Well  I  re- 
member him,  with  his  arm  in  a  sling  from  his  wound 
at  Shamsabad,  shouting  to  the  men  to  follow  him  as  he 
made  an  attempt  to  charge."  As  Hodson  and  his 
adjutant  were  riding  close  together,  followed  by  a  few 
of  their  men,  Hodson's  charger,  badly  wounded,  came 
down  with  him.  At  the  next  moment  Cough's  own 
horse  reared  straight  up  and  fell  dead.  "  The  fire  was 
most  deadly.  The  range  was  short,  and  just  suited  to 
the  point-blank  fire  from  the  smooth-bore  musket  under 
which  we  were  exposed,  so  that  nearly  every  one  of  our 
small  party  was  killed  or  wounded.  Fortunately  I  fell 
clear  of  my  horse,  and  catching  a  sowar's  whose  rider 
had  just  been  killed,  I  speedily  mounted,  and,  as  good 
luck  would  have  it,  was  able  to  rally  our  men  to  a  certain 
extent,  who,  seeing  our  supports  coming  up  (yth  Hussars 
and  Military  Train),  now  came  on  with  a  will,  and 
charging  the  remaining  gun,  scattered  the  enemy  in  all 
directions." 

While  Hodson  was  still  in  search  of  another  mount, 
Hugh  Gough  led  his  men  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy  to  a 
village  covered  by  trees  and  low  jungle. 

"  In  the  ardour  of  pursuit,"  he  writes,  "  I  had  got 
ahead  of  my  men,  when  I  came  upon  a  couple  of  sepoys 
on  their  way  to  the  village.  They  had  their  bayonets 
fixed,  and  seeing  me  unsupported,  stood — one  in  my 
direct  front,  and  the  other  on  my  right.  I  made  for  the 


From  Fathigarh  to  Cawnpore     243 

former;  but  the  one  on  the  right  took  aim  at  me  as  I 
passed  and  shot  me  clean  through  the  thigh,  the  bullet 
going  through  my  saddle  and  my  horse,  killing  her  dead. 
Fortunately  I  fell  clear,  though  helpless.  My  opponent 
was  just  coming  up  to  finish  me  off  when  he  was  sabred 
by  a  trooper  of  the  Military  Train. 

"  The  affair  was  now  over.  The  enemy  suffered 
severely,  and  were  driven  back  into  Lucknow;  and  we 
returned  to  camp,  and  I  was  much  pleased  to  think  that 
our  men  had  retrieved  their  previous  discomfiture.  Their 
temporary  '  funk  '  was  really  due  to  their  having  got  out 
of  hand  after  their  first  charge,  and  not  having  time  to 
rally  before  they  had  again  to  face  the  enemy's  heavy 
musketry-fire.  The  steadiest  cavalry  in  the  world  might 
have  found  it  difficult,  and  to  an  absolutely  newly-raised 
regiment  the  position  was  a  very  trying  one." 

Hodson  appears  to  have  been  greatly  annoyed  at  the 
mishap  to  his  brave  young  adjutant,  the  blame  for  which 
he  imputed  to  some  of  his  native  officers.  Taking  them 
round  to  the  dooly  in  which  Gough  was  being  carried 
back  to  camp,  he  soundly  rated  them  for  being  the  cause 
of  Gough 's  wound.  The  wounded  man,  however,  "  gladly 
forgave  them  all,  for  they  were  really  gallant  fellows, 
and  had  shown  their  good  qualities  on  many  a  former 
occasion."  x 

Hodson  himself  had  received  a  sword-cut  in  the  leg, 
to  which  at  the  time  he  gave  no  heed,  but  which  seems 
to  have  troubled  him  not  a  little  during  the  next  few 
days. 

On  the  following  day  he  had  "  a  most  pleasant  inter- 
view "  with  Sir  James  Outram.  "  The  brave  old  warrior 
greeted  me  most  cordially,  professing  his  satisfaction  at 
having  at  last  met  one  of  whom  he  had  heard  so  much, 
etc.,  etc.  The  pleasure  was  certainly  mutual,  for  I  have 
long  wished  to  meet  him.  He  made  many  inquiries  about 
you  also,  and  asked  whether  you  had  not  been  in  the  hills 
during  the  panic  and  helped  the  refugees,  etc.  How 
proudly  I  could  answer  all  his  praise  in  the  affirmative ! 
Altogether  this  good  old  soldier's  compliments  were 
pleasing  to  me,  particularly  as  he  was  not  one  of  those 
1  Old  Memories. 


244  Major  W.  Hodson 

-who  in  my  time  of  trouble  passed  me  by  on  the  other 
side." 

Some  days  later,  after  the  old  chief's  arrival  at  the 
front,  Hodson  refers  to  the  great  fuss  which  had  arisen 
over  the  affair  of  the  25th.  Sir  Colin  had  taken  just 
offence  at  a  report  that  the  cavalry  had  been  led  by 
Colonel  ,  an  officer  on  his  staff.  "  Sir  Colin  de- 
nounced Colonel  's  '  leading  '  as  'an  insufferable 

impertinence,'  called  me  up,  and  asked  me  before  them 
all,  '  Were  you  present  with  your  regiment  on  the  25th?  ' 
and  on  my  saying  '  Yes,'  he  cried  out,  '  Now,  look  here, 
look  at  my  friend  Hodson  here,  does  he  look  like  a  man 
that  needs  "leading"?  Is  that  a  man  likely  to  want 
"leading"?  I  should  like  to  see  the  fellow  who'd 
presume  to  talk  of  "leading"  that  man!'  pointing  to 
me,  and  so  forth.  I  nearly  went  into  convulsions;  it 
was  such  a  scene !  " 


CHAPTER  XX 

LAST   SCENE   OF  ALL.      MARCH   1858 

ALL  through  February,  1858,  Sir  Colin  Campbell  had  been 
maturing  his  plans  for  the  final  advance  on  Lucknow, 
and  the  reconquest  of  Oudh  and  Rohilkhand.  From 
Calcutta,  from  Agra,  from  the  Punjab,  vast  stores  of 
guns,  ammunition,  food,  cattle,  medicines,  and  other 
necessaries,  with  many  reinforcements  of  Sikh  and 
English  troops,  made  their  way  to  Cawnpore  and  other 
places  where  portions  of  the  newly-formed  army  of  Oudh 
lay  waiting  for  the  signal  to  advance.  Not  until  the  end 
of  February  did  the  commander-in-chief  himself  leave 
Cawnpore  to  take  command  of  perhaps  the  finest  army 
that  ever  in  British  uniform  stepped  out  on  Indian  soil. 

With  the  weariness  of  an  old  soldier  bent  on  leaving 
nothing  to  chance,  and  patient  of  delays  that  fretted  the 
souls  of  his  subalterns  and  evoked  impatient  growls  from 
onlookers  stirred  by  the  dashing  feats  of  subordinate 
leaders,  Sir  Colin  Campbell  determined  to  hold  his  hand 
until  he  had  brought  together  the  means  of  crushing  out 
all  armed  resistance  by  a  few  well-planted  blows. 

Hodson  writes  on  the  ist  of  March:  "Nothing  of 
public  importance  is  occurring.  I  am  still  unable  to 
ride,  so  I  do  regimental  work.  I  dined  with  Sir  J.  Outram 
last  night.  He  would  quite  charm  you,  and  were  I  not 
out  of  love  with  vanity,  would  spoil  me;  but  I  confess 
the  respectful  homage  of  the  soldiers  is  pleasanter  to  my 
spirit  than  the  praise  of  great  men." 

On  the  following  day,  Sir  Colin  Campbell  with  a  large 
part  of  his  force  marched  past  the  Alambagh,  and  after 
a  sharp  skirmish,  in  which  the  enemy  lost  a  gun,  occupied 
the  Dilkusha,  a  large  garden-house  and  park  near  the 
city,  almost  within  range  of  the  enemy's  guns.  Between 
Cawnpore  and  Lucknow  were  now  assembled  four  strong 
245 


246  Major  W.  Hodson 

•divisions  of  infantry,  two  brigades  of  Sir  Hope  Grant's 
cavalry,  three  fine  brigades  of  artillery,  and  one  of 
engineers,  making  up  an  army  of  more  than  20,000  men 
with  120  guns.  Outram,  of  course,  commanded  the  first 
infantry  division,  which  included  Neill's  Madras  Fusiliers, 
the  78th  Highlanders,  and  Brasyer's  Sikhs.  The  93rd 
Highlanders  and  the  4th  Punjab  Rifles  formed  part  of 
the  second  division,  commanded  by  General  (afterwards 
Sir  E.)  Lugard. 

Conspicuous  among  the  regiments  of  Walpole's  division 
were  the  ist  Bengal  Fusiliers  and  the  2nd,  or  Green's, 
Punjab  Infantry.  The  war-worn  gth  Lancers,  Hodson's 
swarthy  Horse,  and  the  dashing  volunteer  cavalry, 
formed  the  pick  of  Hope  Grant's  powerful  array.  The 
Engineer  Brigade  might  well  be  proud  of  such  a  leader 
as  Robert  Napier.  In  the  list  of  battery  commanders 
the  names  of  Turner,  Tombs,  Olpherts,  Remmington, 
Middleton,  Bishop,  recalled  many  a  great  deed  done 
before  Delhi,  or  on  the  road  to  Lucknow,  by  the  soldiers 
of  an  arm  renowned  for  matchless  services  in  every  field. 

On  the  4th,  Hodson  had  a  long  talk  with  Sir  Colin  at 
the  Dilkusha,  whither  his  regiment  had  been  ordered  by 
mistake.  He  found  his  chief  "  even  more  than  commonly 
kind  and  cordial."  "  I  am  not  very  well,"  he  writes  on 
the  5th.  "  This  leg  troubles  me,  and  is  the  effect  of  the 
erysipelas  which  attacked  my  arm  in  consequence  of  the 
wounds  closing  too  quickly.  The  truth  is  that  I  lost 
about  a  pound  and  a  half  of  blood  when  I  was  wounded, 
and  having  had  two  slight  bouts  of  fever  since,  I  am  not 
so  strong  as  I  would  be:  however,  I  am  getting  on,  and 
am  dosed  with  steel,  quinine  and  port  wine  ad  lib.  My 
arm  is  pretty  well,  but  the  wound  opened  again  partially 
after  the  25th,  and  I  have  been  obliged  to  submit  to 
bandages,  etc. ;  still  I  hope  three  or  four  days  will  set  me 
all  right  again." 

About  this  time  he  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  again 
his  old  Cambridge  friend  Osborn  Wilkinson,  then  acting 
as  deputy  assistant  quartermaster-general  to  the  Cavalry- 
Brigade.  Hodson  was  anxious  about  the  health  of  his 
dear  friend  Napier,  with  whom  he  had  breakfasted  on  the 
4th,  in  the  headquarters  camp.  "  I  grieved  to  see  that 


Last  Scene  of  All  247 

he  looked  worn  and  troubled.  I  fear  his  health  is  very 
precarious." 

On  the  morning  of  the  6th,  he  moved  his  men  from  the 
Alambagh  to  a  position  nearer  Lucknow  and  the  Dilkusha, 
Sir  Hope  Grant  having  placed  him  in  charge  of  the  line 
of  communications  with  Jalalabad,  the  Alambagh,  and 
Sir  Colin's  camp.  "  So  I  had  to  bring  my  men  up  here, 
half  way  between  the  two  camps,  and  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  ensuring  the  safety  of  the  roads  and  protect- 
ing the  convoys,  on  which  the  existence  of  the  army 
depends.  The  worst  part  of  it  is  I  cannot  ride,  and  have 
had  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  to  do  outpost  duty  in 
a  dog-cart !  driving  across  country  to  post  vedettes  and 
pickets,  etc." 

On  the  8th,  he  is  over  again  in  the  chief's  camp,  looking 
for  letters  and  hoping  to  see  Napier.  Failing  in  both 
quests,  he  goes  on  to  breakfast  and  "  a  long  chat  with 
that  pleasantest  of  persons,  Sir  Edward  Lugard."  While 
there  he  had  a  letter  from  Norman,  then  adjutant-general, 
to  say  that  his  stepson,  Reginald  Mitford,  had  been 
appointed  to  do  duty  with  Hodson's  Horse.  "  I  can  but 
think  he  is  too  young;  but  if  he  must  see  hard  service 
so  early,  better  with  me  than  elsewhere.  God  grant  it 
may  be  for  his  good.1  I  am  looking  for  the  end  with  an 
eager  longing  for  rest  which  I  cannot  control." 

On  March  9,  he  seeks  to  allay  his  wife's  fears  on  his 
behalf  by  reminding  her  that  "  our  force  extends  now 
round  three  sides  nearly  of  Lucknow — the  extreme  right 
of  our  position,  or  rather  camps,  being  at  least  nine  miles 
from  the  left;  so  that  engagements  occur  at  one  part 
which  those  at  the  other  never  perhaps  hear  of  till  next 
day !  Indeed  I  have  not  been  on  horseback  since  the 
25th,  as  I  am  forced  to  save  myself  for  emergencies.  If 
anything  important  occurs,  be  sure  I  will  send  a  telegram 
somehow.  I  do  hope  Hugh  Gough  will  soon  be  well; 
I  do  ill  without  such  a  dashing  fine  fellow.  .  .  . 

"  The  Martiniere  was  taken  to-day  without  loss,  except 
Captian  Peel,  who,  I  grieve  to  say,  is  wounded." 

1  "  I  never  saw  him  again,"  writes  General  Mitford,  "  as  the 
telegram  from  the  adjutant-general  appointing  me  to  Hodson's 
Horse  was  followed  next  day  by  one  from  Mansfield  (by  order  of 
SirXolin)  telling  me  of  his  death." 


248  Major  W.  Hodson 

That  evening  he  dined  at  the  headquarters  mess. 
Among  those  present  was  Mr.  (now  Sir  William)  Russell, 
the  famous  war  correspondent  of  the  Times.  "  Our 
camp  dinner/'  he  writes,  "  was  very  animated.  .  .  . 
Hodson  dined  with  us  at  mess.  A  very  remarkable  fine 
fellow — a  beau  sabreur,  and  a  man  of  great  ability.  His 
views,  expressed  in  strong  nervous  language,  delivered 
with  fire  and  ease,  are  very  decided;  but  he  takes  a 
military  rather  than  a  political  view  of  the  state  of  our 
relations  with  India.  I  should  like  to  see  Hodson  at  the 
head  of  his  Horse  try  a  bout  with  the  best  Cossacks  of 
the  Don  or  Black  Sea;  not  that  I  would  willingly  have 
the  fight,  but  that  if  it  must  be,  I  should  be  sorry  to  miss 
the  sight  of  it."  * 

On  the  morning  of  March  6  had  begun  the  turning 
movement  which  the  Commander-in-chief  had  rightly 
entrusted  to  Sir  James  Outram,  the  stubborn  defender 
of  the  Alambagh.  While  Sir  Colin  himself  prepared  to 
crash  his  way  forward  through  a  triple  line  of  works, 
held  by  some  70,000  sepoys  and  armed  retainers  of  the 
great  landed  chiefs  and  the  titular  Queen  of  Oudh,  his 
trusty  lieutenant  was  to  press  onward  up  the  left  bank 
of  the  Gumti,  carrying  or  turning  the  enemy's  defences 
and  blocking  their  way  of  escape  from  that  side  of  the 
great  city. 

Three  days  later  Outram  had  carried  with  ease  the 
strong  walled  enclosure  of  the  Padshah  Bagh  or  King's 
Garden,  and  proceeded  to  rake  with  his  heavy  guns  the 
lines  of  works  spreading  southwards  between  him  and 
the  Martiniere.  On  the  same  day,  March  9,  Sir  Colin  on 
his  side  sent  Lugard's  division  against  the  first  line  of 
works  in  his  front.  Without  firing  a  shot  the  High- 
landers and  Punjabis  of  Hope's  brigade  stormed  the 
defences  of  the  Martiniere,  the  college  founded  by  a 
Frenchman  in  the  days  of  Warren  Hastings.  Then  with 
another  determined  rush  they  clomb  up  the  lofty  ramparts 
lining  the  canal;  and  that  evening  the  line  of  the  canal 
as  far  as  Banks's  House  was  safe  in  British  hands. 

The  next  day  Lugard  succeeded  in  storming  Banks's 
House,  and  made  his  arrangements  for  marching  to  the 
1  My  Diary  in  India.  Routledge,  1860. 


Last  Scene  of  All  249 

left  of  the  Kaisar  Bagh,  while  Outram  was  bringing  his 
guns  and  mortars  to  play  upon  the  same  post  from  his 
camp  across  the  river,  and  Hope  Grant's  cavalry  were 
scouring  the  plain  between  the  river  and  the  old  canton- 
ments. 

On  the  same  day  Hodson  writes:  "  The  mail  is  come 
with  my  majority.  The  brevet  has  given  general  dis- 
satisfaction. Some  of  the  double  honours  are  marvellous ; 
but  it  should  be  remembered  that  these  promotions  are 
given  sponte  sua  by  the  home  authorities,  no  recom- 
mendations having  gone  from  hence  till  lately.  I  am 
content  myself,  having  no  interest.  It  proves  they 
perceive  I  have  done  something,  or  I  should  not  have 
this  beginning;  and  it  is  satisfactory  to  find  that  it  is 
universally  considered  that  I  have  been  shabbily  used. 
Better  this  by  far  than  to  have  people  lifting  up  their 
eyes  and  saying  I  had  got  too  much." 

"  Immense  progress,"  he  adds,  "  was  made  yesterday, 
with  not  more  loss  than  some  eighteen  or  twenty  wounded, 
and  I  hear  to-day  they  are  going  ahead  again.  Pandy 
has  quite  given  up  fighting,  except  pot-shots  under  cover, 
and  runs  at  the  very  sight  of  troops  advancing.  I  stood 
on  the  top  of  the  Dilkusha  palace  yesterday,  and  watched 
the  capture  of  as  strong  a  position  as  men  could  wish  for 
(which  at  Delhi  would  have  cost  us  hundreds)  without 
the  enemy  making  a  single  struggle  or  firing  a  shot.  .  .  . 
I  expect  to  see  Lucknow  taken  without  being  under  fire 
again.  Well,  it  must  be  confessed  that  I  have  had  my 
share  of  the  dangers  of  the  war,  and  whether  I  receive 
honours  or  not,  I  have  the  testimony  of  my  own  con- 
science that  I  have  done  one  man's  work  towards  the 
restoration  of  our  power  in  India. 

"  I  have  been  occupied  to-day  in  trying  to  get  the 
Victoria  Cross  for  the  two  Coughs.  Hugh  certainly 
ought  to  have  it."  1 

On  the  fateful  March  n,  Hodson  addressed  to  his  wife 
the  last  letter  that  she  was  ever  to  receive  from  her 
loyal  and  loving  spouse.  Before  it  reached  Umbala  his 
days  on  earth  were  already  numbered.  The  letter  ran 
thus:  "  Just  as  I  sit  down  to  write  comes  an  order  to 
1  Both  the  brothers  did  receive  the  Victoria  Cross. 


250  Major  W.  Hodson 

move  our  camp  towards  Alambagh  again,  Jang  Bahadur 
having  at  last  arrived  with  his  army  and  taken  up  ground 
between  me  and  the  enemy.  ...  If  anything  occurs  I 
will  get  Colonel  Napier  or  Norman  to  send  you  a  service 
telegram." 

In  the  course  of  the  same  day  occurred  that  last  meeting 
between  Hodson  and  Captain  Osborn  Wilkinson,  of  which 
the  latter  gives  the  following  account:  "  I  had  been  spend- 
ing the  greater  part  of  an  afternoon  with  him  in  his  tent. 
His  name  and  fame  were  on  everybody's  lips,  and  he  had 
been  recounting  to  me  some  of  the  stirring  scenes  in  his 
romantic  life.  It  seems  to  me  now  as  if  he  must  have 
had  some  prophetic  warning  that  his  end  was  near  at 
hand,  for  he  gave  me  several  things  as  keepsakes,  and  at 
the  termination  of  our  interview,  on  my  remarking  that 
he  must  be  looking  forward  to  some  respite  from  his 
labours,  he  solemnly  replied,  '  Yes,  Wilkinson,  I  shall  be 
glad  of  some  rest.'  We  then  parted,  and  not  many 
hours  afterwards  he  was  summoned  to  his  eternal 
rest."  x 

About  noon  of  the  nth,  Hodson's  regiment  was  ordered 
to  march  at  4  P.M.  to  the  camp  of  Brigadier  Campbell 
beyond  the  Alambagh,  leaving  a  squadron  behind  to  co- 
operate with  Jang  Bahadur.  Meanwhile  Hodson  himself 
started  off  with  two  of  his  orderlies  to  the  headquarters 
camp,  to  learn  how  matters  were  going  on  within  the  city. 
"  We  were  to  wait  for  his  return  before  marching,"  writes 
Dr.  Thomas  Anderson,  surgeon  to  Hodson's  Horse.  "  The 
sore  on  his  leg  was  then  so  nearly  well  that  he  could  ride, 
but  I  asked  him  not  to  do  so,  but  to  drive  to  the  Dilkusha 
and  there  mount  his  horse,  which  was  to  be  sent  on  to 
wait  for  him  there.  This  he  did,  and  sent  back  the  dog- 
cart in  which  he  had  driven  to  the  Dilkusha.  In  the 
meantime  we  tiffed,  struck  our  tents,  and  sent  on  our 
baggage,  and  were  sitting  under  the  shade  of  some  trees 
waiting  for  his  return.  Captain  Gough,  who  commanded, 
waited  till  5  P.M.,  when  he  gave  the  order  to  march,  as 
otherwise  it  would  be  dark  before  we  could  reach  our 
new  encamping  ground.  As  it  was,  it  was  dark  before 
we  reached  it.  Just  as  I  dismounted,  Hodson's  orderly 
1  The  Gemini  Generals. 


Last  Scene  of  All  251 

rode  up  to  me,  telling  me  that  his  master  had  been  danger- 
ously hit,  and  had  sent  for  me."  x 

Soon  after  midday,  having  received  his  last  orders  from 
the  commander-in-chief,  Hodson  walked  into  the  tent  of 
Captain  (afterwards  General)  Hutchinson  of  the  Engineers. 
"  Where  is  Napier?  "  he  asked  of  the  friend  whom  he  had 
not  met  since  the  Satlaj  campaign.  Hutchinson  replied, 
"  He  is  in  the  city,  and  will  probably  be  taking  the  Begam 
Koti  this  afternoon."  At  Hutchinson's  entreaty  his 
visitor  stayed  to  luncheon. 

"  I  will  recollect,"  writes  his  host,  "  the  deeply  interest- 
ing account  I  led  him  into  of  his  hand-to-hand  conflicts. 
Noticing  his  large  pistol  (revolver),  I  asked  him  if  he 
could  trust  it  (it  was  a  Colt  I  think),  and  told  him  how  a 
revolver  had  twice  failed  me, — once  in  a  cavalry  charge 
with  Forbes  when  the  military  police  mutinied  in  Oudh 
in  1857,  and  once  in  a  mine  in  Lucknow.  He  said  No, 
the  bullet  does  not  always  give  sufficient  shock  to  the 
system  to  stop  a  man,  and  mentioned  one  case  in  which 
though  he  had  shot  an  assailant  through  the  throat,  yet 
he  had  after  that  a  stiff  sword-fight  with  him  before  he 
could  kill  him. 

"  He  left  me  after  luncheon  to  see  Napier."  z 

In  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Hodson,  Napier  tells  us  what 
happened  then: — 

"  On  the  morning  of  our  taking  a  range  of  palaces 
called  the  Begam  Koti,  I  was  reconnoitring  the  breach 
whilst  the  guns  were  making  it  practicable,  and  waiting 
for  the  moment  when  I  could  send  the  word  for  the  troops 
to  advance,  when  your  husband  suddenly  stood  beside 
me  and  said  laughingly, '  I  am  come  to  take  care  of  you.' 
The  signal  was  given  for  the  troops  to  advance,  and  we 
watched  their  progress  and  entry  into  the  building.  All 
serious  opposition  soon  ceased,  and  we  followed  through 
the  breach  into  the  palace.  None  of  the  enemy  remained 
except  a  few  parties  shut  up  in  houses,  whom  our  troops 
were  despatching.  Your  poor  husband,  Captain  Taylor,3 
and  I  were  together  then.  I  got  separated  from  them  in 

1  MS.  letter  to  Mrs.  Hodson. 

»  MS.  letter  to  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Hodson. 

8  Now  General  Sir  Alexander  Taylor,  K.C.B. 


252  Major  W.  Hodson 

the  crowd,  and  proceeded  to  push  on  our  advantage. 
When  I  returned,  General  Lugard  told  me  that  both 
your  husband  and  Taylor  were  wounded,  and  that  he 
was  earnestly  asking  for  me. 

"  I  went  immediately  to  Banks's  house  and  found  him 
in  a  dooly,  not  suffering  much  pain.  His  wound  had  been 
dressed,  and  he  had  all  necessary  attendance.  I  was 
obliged  to  leave  him  to  go  to  the  commander-in-chief, 
but  then  returned  and  remained  with  him  till  the  approach 
of  morning  obliged  me  to  return  to  my  duties." 

How  Hodson  came  to  meet  the  fatal  bullet  which  cut 
short  his  brilliant  career  may  best  be  told  in  the  words 
of  Mr.  Forbes-Mitchell,  who  had  just  borne  his  part  in 
the  storming  of  the  Begam's  palace: — 

"  By  this  time  we  were  broken  up  in  small  parties  in 
a  series  of  separate  fights  all  over  the  different  detached 
buildings  of  the  palace.  Captain  M'Donald  being  dead, 
the  men  who  had  been  on  picket  with  me  joined  a  party 
under  Lieutenant  Sergison,  and  while  breaking  in  the 
door  of  a  room  Mr.  Sergison  was  shot  dead  at  my  side, 
with  several  men.  When  we  had  partly  broken  in  the 
door  I  saw  that  there  was  a  large  number  of  the  enemy 
inside  the  room,  well  armed  with  swords  and  spears  in 
addition  to  firearms  of  all  sorts,  and  not  wishing  to  be 
either  killed  myself  or  have  more  of  the  men  who  were 
with  me  killed,  I  divided  my  party,  placing  some  at  each 
side  of  the  door  to  shoot  every  man  who  showed  himself 
or  attempted  to  rush  out.  I  then  sent  two  men  back 
to  the  breach,  where  I  knew  Colonel  Napier  with  his 
engineers  was  to  be  found,  to  get  a  few  bags  of  gun- 
powder with  slow-matches  fixed  to  light  and  pitch  into 
the  room. 

"  Instead  of  finding  Napier,  the  two  men  sent  by  me 
found  the  redoubtable  Major  Hodson,  who  had  accom- 
panied Napier  as  a  volunteer  in  the  storming  of  the  palace. 
Hodson  did  not  wait  for  the  powder-bags,  but  after  show- 
ing the  men  where  to  go  for  them,  came  running  up  him- 
self, sabre  in  hand.  '  Where  are  the  rebels  ?  '  he  said.  I 
pointed  to  the  door  of  the  room,  and  Hodson,  shouting, 
'  Come  on ! '  was  about  to  rush  in.  I  implored  him  not 
to  do  so,  saying,  '  It's  certain  death.  Wait  for  the 


Last  Scene  of  All  253 

powder.  I've  sent  men  for  powder-bags.'  Hodson  made 
a  step  forward,  and  I  put  out  my  hand  to  seize  him  by 
the  shoulder  to  pull  him  out  of  the  line  of  the  doorway, 
when  he  fell  back  shot  through  the  chest.  He  gasped 
out  a  few  words,  either,  '  Oh,  my  wife ! '  or,  '  Oh,  my 
mother ! ' — I  cannot  now  rightly  remember — but  was 
immediately  choked  by  blood.  ...  I  assisted  to  get  him 
lifted  into  a  dooly — by  that  time  the  bearers  had  got  in, 
and  were  collecting  the  wounded  who  were  unable  to 
walk — and  I  sent  him  back  to  where  the  surgeons  were, 
fully  expecting  that  he  would  be  dead  before  anything 
could  be  done  for  him." 

"  It  will  thus  be  seen,"  he  adds,  "  that  the  assertion 
that  Major  Hodson  was  looting  when  he  was  killed  is 
untrue.  No  looting  had  been  commenced,  not  even  by 
Jang  Bahadur's  Gurkhas.  That  Major  Hodson  was 
killed  through  his  own  rashness  cannot  be  denied;  but 
for  any  one  to  say  that  he  was  looting  is  a  cruel  slander 
on  one  of  the  bravest  of  Englishmen."  x 

It  was  already  dark  when  a  message  from  the  death- 
stricken  hero  was  brought  to  Dr.  Anderson  by  the  faith- 
ful orderly  Nihal  Singh,  who  had  helped  to  place  his 
beloved  commander  in  the  dooly  that  bore  him  to 
Banks's  house. 

"  I  started  off  at  once,"  says  Dr.  Anderson  in  the  letter 
already  quoted,  "  with  an  escort  of  sowars  and  the 
orderly  as  guide;  and  your  husband's  servants  and  light 
baggage  and  bedding  followed  on  the  mules.  From  the 
great  distance,  and  the  darkness  of  the  night,  and  the 
difficulty  in  passing  along  an  extended  line  of  obstinate 
Gurkha  sentries,  I  did  not  reach  Banks's  house,  where 
your  husband  had  been  taken,  till  ten  o'clock. 

"  I  found  him  there  on  a  dooly,  with  a  doctor  attending 
on  him,  and  an  orderly.  He  was  perfectly  sensible,  but 
sleepy.  He  recognised  me  at  once,  and  was  delighted 
to  see  me,  and  made  me  sit  down  beside  him  and  hold 
his  hands.  In  a  few  minutes  I  relieved  the  doctor  who 
had  remained  with  him,  and  made  inquiries  of  him  (the 
doctor)  about  the  nature  of  the  wound  and  the  treatment 
that  had  been  adopted.  The  wound  was  through  the 
1  Reminiscences  of  the  Great  Mutiny. 


254  Major  W.  Hodson 

liver,  the  ball  having  entered  between  two  of  the  false 
ribs  in  front  and  coming  out  between  two  of  the  same 
ribs  behind,  thus  entirely  avoiding  the  lungs.  I  found 
him  very  weak,  but  with  a  clear  firm  voice,  but  cold 
hands  and  feet,  and  suffering  a  good  deal  of  pain.  The 
pain  was  much  relieved  by  firm  pressure  of  the  hands, 
and  I  accordingly  sat  down  beside  him,  holding  his  right 
hand  firmly  in  mine  and  attending  to  keeping  his  feet 
covered,  and  every  now  and  then  giving  small  doses  of 
brandy-and-water  as  his  pulse  showed  he  required  it." 

About  midnight  Hodson  fell  asleep.  At  i  A.M.  on  the 
1 2th,  he  woke  up,  and  assured  Dr.  Anderson  that  he  felt 
much  better.  So  thought  his  doctor  also,  for  "  the 
bleeding  had  ceased,  his  hands  and  feet  were  warm,  his 
pulse  good,  and  he  suffered  much  less  pain." 

He  had  strength  enough  to  give  Dr.  Anderson  a  clear 
account  of  the  circumstances  which  led  to  his  receiving 
the  fatal  wound.  He  had  gone  on  with  the  attacking 
column  "  as  an  amateur,  but  not  leading  or  putting 
himself  conspicuously  in  danger."  The  fighting  was 
nearly  all  over  when  he  and  Nihal  Singh  entered  the 
courtyard  in  which  some  of  the  sepoys  were  still  lurking. 
"  I  wonder  if  any  one  is  in  that  room,"  he  said  to  his 
orderly.  On  reaching  the  door  two  of  the  sepoys  fired 
at  him  from  inside.  One  of  the  balls  struck  him,  causing 
for  the  moment  great  pain.  He  staggered  back  some 
paces  before  he  fell.  Nihal  Singh,  he  added,  took  him 
up  in  his  arms  and  carried  him  towards  a  dooly  which 
happened  to  be  near  at  hand. 

"  He  went  on  to  tell  me,"  says  Dr.  Anderson,  "  that 
after  he  received  the  first  shock  of  the  wound  he  sent  for 
Colonel  Napier,  and  at  once  started  off  an  orderly  for 
me.  Colonel  Napier  came  at  once  and  sent  for  Dr. 
Clifford,  who  came  and  dressed  the  wound  and  left  a 
doctor  to  watch  until  I  arrived.  It  took  about  an  hour 
to  tell  me  all  this,  and  afterwards  he  became  drowsy, 
and  continued  half-waking  half-sleeping  until  dawn, 
when  he  asked  for  tea.  It  was  soon  procured,  and  he 
drank  two  cups  of  it  and  felt  very  much  refreshed.  I 
thought  him  very  much  better  then,  and  had  hopes  of 
his  ultimate  recovery  provided  bleeding  did  not  return." 


Last  Scene  of  All  255 

Unfortunately  at  9  A.M.  the  bleeding  returned,  accom- 
panied by  much  pain  and  increasing  faintness.  "  He 
rapidly  became  worse,  and  at  10  A.M.  I  told  him  that 
there  was  no  hope  for  him.  I  sent  then  for  Colonel  Napier, 
who  came  immediately,  and  I  left  them  together  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour.  He  was  able  to  talk,  but  only  very 
feebly,  as  his  breathing  was  much  affected,  and  the 
anodyne  remedies  I  administered  had  very  little  effect. 
Colonel  Napier  could  remain  merely  a  few  minutes,  as 
the  commander-in-chief  sent  for  him." 

Before  Napier  returned  to  the  side  of  his  dying  friend, 
the  dooly  in  which  Hodson  lay  had  been  removed  by 
Dr.  Anderson's  orders  into  an  empty  room  where  quiet 
and  privacy  could  be  ensured. 

Napier  found  him  in  much  pain,  and  evidently  weaker 
than  on  the  previous  visit,  when  Hodson  had  given  him 
his  last  loving  messages  for  his  wife  and  family.  "  I 
feel  that  I  am  dying,"  were  the  words  with  which  Hodson 
now  greeted  him.  as  the  two  men  clasped  hands  once 
more.  "  I  should  like  to  have  seen  the  end  of  the 
campaign,  and  to  have  returned  to  England  to  see  my 
friends,  but  it  has  not  been  permitted.  I  trust  I  have 
done  my  duty." 

"  I  could  have  no  difficulty,"  says  Napier,  "  in  answer- 
ing this  question,  as  the  voice  of  every  one  in  the  country 
proclaims  it.  ...  I  was  grieved  to  leave  him,  but  it  was 
necessary  for  me  to  be  at  my  post,  and  before  I  had 
time  to  return  to  him  he  had  gone  to  his  rest,  calm  and 
composed  at  his  last  hour  as  he  was  in  the  front  of  danger 
in  battle.  I  took  his  ring,  and  Dr.  Anderson  cut  off 
his  hair." 

After  Napier's  departure,  writes  Dr.  Anderson,  "  he 
continued  rapidly  becoming  weaker,  though  occasionally 
talking  to  me.  At  one  o'clock  I  saw  his  end  was  rapidly 
approaching,  and  I  asked  him  to  say  anything  he  wished. 
He  said  No,  he  had  no  message  to  any  one,  he  had  told 
Colonel  Napier  all  his  private  affairs,  but  to  send  love 
to  his  wife  and  that  his  last  thoughts  were  of  her.  These 
were  his  words." 

"  All  this  time,"  continues  Dr.  Anderson,  "  I  was 
stooping  by  his  bedside  holding  his  right  hand.  He 


256  Major  W.  Hodson 

frequently  grasped  mine  and,  smiling,  said,  '  Oh,  what 
pain ! '  I  had  my  watch  in  my  hand  when  he  last  spoke 
to  me ;  it  was  a  quarter-past  one ;  it  was  a  mere  whisper, 
'  Oh  God ! '  and  in  ten  minutes  more,  at  twenty-five 
minutes  past  one  o'clock,  the  sad  scene  was  over.  He 
died  most  quietly,  without  a  struggle;  he  merely  ceased 
to  breathe." 

William  Hodson  died  within  a  week  of  entering  on  his 
thirty-eighth  year.  The  faithful  Nihal  Singh  wept  long 
and  bitterly  over  his  master's  body.  Many  of  his  troopers 
cried  like  children  over  their  dead  hero,  whom  they  had 
loved  and  worshipped  as  their  ideal  of  perfect  soldiership, 
the  model  captain  of  light  horse,  the  matchless  swords- 
man, the  wise  yet  daring  counsellor,  the  born  leader  of 
men  who  would  have  followed  him  anywhither  to  the 
death. 

On  the  morning  of  his  death,  Captain  Wilkinson  was 
riding  towards  the  camp  of  Hodson's  Horse  when  he  met 
one  of  the  Gough  brothers,  who,  "  with  tears  streaming 
from  his  eyes,"  told  him  of  their  common  loss.  "  He 
pointed  out  the  place  where  he  was  lying,  and  on  my 
hurrying  there  the  doctors  were  engaged  in  examining 
his  wound.  ...  As  I  mournfully  gazed  on  his  poor 
lifeless  form  I  could  not  help  contrasting  '  the  languor  of 
the  placid  cheek '  with  the  animation  and  energy  and 
manly  vigour  that  had  lit  up  his  handsome  and  refined 
features  only  a  few  brief  hours  before,  when  he  was  in 
the  zenith  of  his  renown."  1 

On  the  evening  of  March  12,  his  body  was  buried  in 
the  garden  of  Martini£re,  at  the  foot  of  a  clump  of  bamboos. 
Conspicuous  among  those  who  stood  beside  the  grave 
while  the  Rev.  Dr.  H.  Smith  read  the  funeral  service 
were  the  veteran  commander-in-chief  and  all  his  staff. 
At  the  moment  when  his  remains  were  lowered  into  the 
grave,  Sir  Colin  Campbell  himself  burst  into  tears  over 
the  loss  of  "  one  of  the  finest  officers  in  the  army  " — the 
man  whom  Robert  Napier  was  proud  to  call  friend,  to 
whom  Montgomery  could  find  no  equal  for  his  rare 
combination  of  talent,  courage,  coolness,  and  unerring 
judgment. 

1  The  Gemini  Generals. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

CONCLUSION 

ON  the  very  next  day,  the  i3th,  Sir  Colin  Campbell, 
writing  to  the  bereaved  widow,  gave  frank  expression  to 
the  sorrow  felt  throughout  his  army  at  her  husband's 
death:  "  It  is  with  a  sentiment  of  profound  regret  that  I 
am  compelled  to  address  you,  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
municating the  sad  news  that  your  gallant  and  dis- 
tinguished husband,  Major  Hodson,  received  a  mortal 
wound  from  a  bullet  on  the  nth  instant.  He  unfortun- 
ately accompanied  his  friend  Brigadier  Napier,  command- 
ing Engineers,  in  the  successful  attack  on  the  Begam's 
palace.  The  whole  army,  which  admired  his  talents,  his 
bravery,  and  his  military  skill,  deplores  his  loss,  and 
sympathises  with  you  in  your  irreparable  bereavement. 
I  attended  your  husband's  funeral  yesterday  evening  in 
order  to  show  what  respect  I  could  to  the  memory  of 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  officers  under  my  command." 

"  Amidst  universal  sorrow  and  regret,"  wrote  Napier 
himself  to  Mrs.  Hodson,  "  he  was  laid  in  his  grave  near 
the  Martiniere.  I  am  going  to  enclose  it  with  a  masonry 
wall  and  build  a  tomb  over  it  immediately.  I  grieve 
deeply  now  that  I  did  not  object  to  his  entering  the  palace 
at  all,  but  you  know  his  forward  spirit,  and  how  im- 
possible it  was  to  keep  him  out  of  danger.  It  is  God's 
will,  and  we  must  bow  submissively." 

"  A  finer  or  more  gallant  soldier,"  says  Sir  Hugh 
Gough,  "  never  breathed.  He  had  the  true  instincts  of 
a  leader  of  men;  as  a  cavalry  soldier  he  was  perfection, 
a  strong  seat  on  horseback  (though  an  ugly  rider),  a 
perfect  swordsman,  nerves  like  iron,  and  with  a  quick 
intelligent  eye,  indefatigable  and  zealous,  and  with  great 
tact.  He  had  the  allround  qualities  of  a  good  soldier. 
Great  was  the  grief  in  '  Hodson 's  Horse  '  at  the  death  of 
their  leader,  for  no  man  was  more  loved  by  his  men. 

257  R 


258  Major  W.  Hodson 

To  me  his  death  was  a  sad  loss — he  had  been  a  kind 
friend  to  me  from  the  day  I  joined  him  at  Delhi.  I  had 
been  longer  with  him  than  any  of  the  surviving  officers, 
and  I  knew  him  better  than  most."  l 

Sir  Thomas  Seaton  speaks  of  his  friend's  untimely 
death  as  "  a  calamity  to  our  country,  and  I  mourned 
for  him  as  for  a  brother.  I  shall  never  see  his  equal."  2 

In  the  letter  from  which  I  have  already  quoted,  Dr. 
Anderson  writes:  "In  closing  this  ungarnished  account 
of  your  dear  husband's  last  moments,  allow  me  to  tell 
you  that  we  who  have  served  with  him  through  so  many 
dangers  felt  his  loss  like  that  of  a  brother.  He  was  the 
influence  that  kept  us  together,  and  since  he  has  passed 
away  from  us  we  have  all  broken  up,  and  another  officer 
and  I  are  the  only  two  in  the  regiment  that  have  served 
with  him  at  all,  and  I  am  about  to  leave  also.  Had  he 
lived  it  would  have  been  otherwise." 

It  is  pleasant  to  note  that  even  Sir  John  Lawrence 
officially  pronounced  him  to  be  "  one  of  the  ablest,  most 
active,  and  bravest  soldiers  who  have  fallen  in  the  present 
war." 

Many  years  afterwards,  when  Mr.  Forbes-Mitchell  re- 
visited the  scene  of  those  fierce  struggles  in  which  his 
regiment  had  borne  so  conspicuous  a  part,  he  saw  him- 
self once  more  standing  by  the  grave  of  Major  Hodson. 
"  I  found  it,"  he  says,  "  in  excellent  preservation,  with 
a  wall  round  it  and  an  iron  gate  to  it  near  the  entrance 
to  the  Martiniere  College.  This  care  had  been  taken  of 
Hodson's  last  resting-place  by  his  friend  Lord  Napier  of 
Magdala,  and  I  cut  a  branch  from  the  cypress-tree  planted 
at  his  head,  and  posted  half  of  it  to  the  address  of  his 
brother  in  England."3 

Immediately  after  Hodson's  death  a  committee  of 
adjustment  proceeded  in  the  usual  fashion  to  examine 
and  report  upon  his  personal  effects,  which  had  been 
transferred  to  the  quarters  of  Colonel  Robert  Napier. 
Captain  (now  Sir  Charles)  Gough,  V.C.,  K.C.B.,  had  been 
appointed  president  of  the  committee.  The  results  of 
their  proceedings  showed  that,  with  the  exception  of 

1  Old  Memories.  *  From  Cadet  to  Colonel. 

3  Reminiscences  of  the  Great  Mutiny. 


Conclusion  259 

such  memorials  as  a  ring,  watch,  Bible  and  Prayer-book, 
and  a  miniature,  which  were  handed  over  to  the  widow, 
"  all  Major  Hodson's  effects  were  sold  by  auction,  and 
that  the  whole,  exclusive  of  his  horses,  consisting  of  tents, 
a  gig,  camp  equipage,  guns  (one  rifle  valued  at  £35), 
swords,  telescope,  saddles  and  bridles,  etc.,  realised  the 
sum  of  Rs.  1774,  or  less  than  £170.  The  only  article 
found  in  his  possession  which  could  possibly  have  come 
under  the  head  of  '  loot '  was  a  native  ornament  of  some 
flat  stones  set  in  silver,  worth  a  few  rupees  at  most,  which 
had  probably,  as  would  appear  from  his  letters,  been 
bought  from  a  sowar."  x 

"  The  inventory  of  his  effects,"  wrote  Sir  Charles 
Gough  many  years  afterwards,  in  honest  indignation  at 
the  revival  of  former  calumnies,  "  bears  witness  to  the 
fact  he  had  no  loot  of  any  kind  in  his  possession."  z 

When  the  old  scandal  about  the  discovery  of  "  vast 
stores  of  valuables  "  amongst  Hodson's  effects  had  been 
thoroughly  exploded  by  Lord  Napier  and  Sir  Charles 
Gough,  the  slanderers  of  their  dead  friend  and  comrade 
affirmed  that  Hodson's  trunks  had  been  carefully  rifled 
before  they  were  examined  by  the  committee  of  adjust- 
ment. The  authors  of  this  preposterous  fable  must  have 
forgotten  what  both  Sir  H.  Daly  and  Sir  C.  Gough  had 

1  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse. 

a  "  It  was  current  in  camp,"  writes  Lord  Roberts,  who  in  common 
with  the  whole  army  had  mourned  his  early  death,  "  and  the  story 
has  often  been  repeated,  that  Hodson  was  killed  in  the  act  o'f 
looting.  This  certainly  was  not  the  case.  Hodson  was  sitting  with 
Donald  Stewart  in  the  headquarters  camp  when  the  signal  gun 
announced  that  the  attack  on  the  Begam  Kothi  was  about  to  take 
place.  Hodson  immediately  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  off  in  the 
direction  of  the  city.  Stewart,  who  had  been  ordered  by  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  to  accompany  the  troops,  and  send  an  early  report 
to  his  Excellency  of  the  result  of  the  assault,  had  his  horse  ready,  and 
followed  Hodson  so  closely  that  he  kept  him  in  sight  until  within  a 
short  distance  of  the  fighting,  when  Stewart  stopped  to  speak  to  the 
officer  in  charge  of  Peel's  guns,  which  had  been  covering  the  advance 
of  the  troops.  This  delayed  Stewart  for  a  few  minutes  only,  and  as 
he  rode  into  the  courtyard  of  the  palace  a  Highland  soldier  handed 
him  a  pistol,  saying, '  This  is  your  pistol,  sir;  but  I  thought  you  were 
carried  away  mortally  wounded  a  short  time  ago.'  Stewart  at  once 
conjectured  that  the  man  had  mistaken  him  for  Hodson.  In  face 
they  were  not  much  alike,  but  both  were  tall,  well  made,  and  fair, 
and  native  soldiers  had  frequently  saluted  one  for  the  other.  It  is 
clear  from  this  account  that  Hodson  could  not  have  been  looting,  as 
he  was  wounded  almost  as  soon  as  he  reached  the  palace." 


260  Major  W.  Hodson 

stated  at  the  time,  that  immediately  on  Hodson's  death 
a  guard  had  been  placed  over  his  effects  until  they  were 
removed  to  the  quarters  of  General  Napier,  who  has 
declared  that  there  was  nothing  in  his  boxes  but  what 
an  officer  might  legitimately  and  honourably  have  in 
his  possession. 

It  is  amusing,  though  not  a  little  sad,  to  mark  the 
perverse  ingenuity  with  which  some  of  Hodson's  de- 
tractors have  twisted  the  most  harmless  incidents  of  his 
career  into  the  clearest  evidences  of  wrong-doing.  We 
have  seen,  for  instance,  how  the  Cowhouse  affair  became 
transformed  into  an  absurd  fable  of  ill-gotten  gains.  Not 
long  before  his  death,  Hodson  had  applied  to  the  pay- 
master, Captain  F.  C.  Tombs,  for  two  months'  pay  for 
his  regiment.  General  Mansfield,  then  chief  of  the 
staff  to  Sir  Colin  Campbell,  had  sanctioned  the  applica- 
tion. At  Hodson's  request  the  sum  of  Rs.  60,000  was 
paid  to  him  in  the  shape  of  bills  on  Calcutta,  for  which 
at  that  time  there  was  a  great  demand  among  the  up- 
country  bankers.  "  That  they  were  duly  paid,"  writes 
his  brother,  "  all  allow.  ...  It  is  perhaps  needless  after 
this  to  say  that  it  can  be  proved  that  no  such  sum  came 
into  the  hands  of  his  bankers  at  Calcutta  or  was  found  by 
his  executors." 

Nevertheless,  a  story  had  been  set  on  foot,  and  for 
aught  I  know  is  still  current,  to  the  effect  that  Hodson 
remitted  to  Calcutta  a  very  large  sum,  amounting  to 
some  thousands  of  pounds. 

With  the  arrears  of  pay  and  batta  due  to  Hodson  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  his  executors  were  enabled  to  pay 
off  all  outstanding  claims  against  his  estate.  "  When 
this  was  done,"  writes  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Hodson,  "  so  little 
was  left  that  his  widow  was  obliged  to  apply  to  the  Com- 
passionate Fund  for  assistance,  which  was  granted  after 
due  investigation  by  the  Commissioners,  of  whom  Sir 
Richard  Temple  was  one,  much  to  the  surprise  of  those 
who  had  believed  the  stories  that  were  circulated  to  his 
prejudice." 

Shortly  after  his  death,  Mrs.  Hodson  asked  the  Rev. 
C.  Sloggett  to  help  her  in  looking  over  some  of  his  private 
memoranda  of  accounts.  "  There  was  one  in  particular," 


Conclusion  261 

says  that  gentleman,  "  a  sort  of  debtor  and  creditor 
account  against  himself,  drawn  up,  or  supplied  with  its 
last  entry,  on  the  very  morning  of  his  being  shot.  After 
all  that  I  had  heard  against  him,  I  was  astonished  at  the 
smallness  of  his  resources.  There  was  no  larger  balance 
than  could  be  accounted  for  by  his  profit  on  the  house  at 
Umbala  and  his  good  allowances  as  commanding  a 
cavalry  regiment."  x 

As  honorary  secretary  to  the  Punjab  Special  Fund, 
Mr.  Sloggett  himself  was  able  to  assure  the  committee  of 
management,  consisting  of  the  judicial  and  financial 
commissioners,  Mr.  (now  Sir  Richard)  Temple,  Com- 
missioner of  Lahore,  the  civil  surgeon,  and  Mr.  H.  C. 
Perkins,  C.S.,  that  the  case  of  Mrs.  Hodson  was  "  one 
which  required  their  liberal  consideration."  The  com- 
mittee could  not  but  accept  the  evidence  thus  supplied 
by  an  independent  witness.  So  far,  therefore,  from 
having  amassed  a  fortune  by  persistent  plundering,  it  is 
absolutely  certain  that  Hodson  died  without  leaving  his 
widow  money  enough  to  pay  her  passage  home. 

Besides  the  moderate  pension  to  which  Mrs.  Hodson 
was  entitled  as  the  widow  of  a  Company's  officer,  a  special 
pension  was  bestowed  upon  her  by  the  Secretary  of  State 
for  India  in  Council,  "  in  testimony  of  the  high  sense 
entertained  of  the  gallant  and  distinguished  services  of 
the  late  Brevet-Major  W.  S.  R.  Hodson."  In  further 
acknowledgment  of  those  services,  Queen  Victoria  herself 
was  graciously  pleased  to  assign  to  Mrs.  Hodson  a  set  of 
apartments  in  Hampton  Court.  After  her  death  in  1885, 
the  whole  of  her  property  was  sworn  by  her  executrix 
under  £400.  So  much  for  the  slanders  that  have  dogged 
the  memory  of  one  of  the  finest  soldiers  whom  England 
has  ever  sent  forth  to  fight  her  battles  on  Eastern 
ground ! 

After  Hodson's  death  his  regiment  was  attached  to  the 
Cavalry  Division,  and  took  part  in  the  fruitless  attempt 
to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  mutineers  from  Lucknow. 
"  Though  its  distinguished  commandant  was  dead," 
writes  Sir  Hugh  Gough,  "  the  regiment  continued  to 
maintain  its  reputation  under  his  successor,  Colonel  Daly 
1  Rev.  C.  Sloggett's  MS.  letter. 


262  Major  W.  Hodson 

(afterwards  Sir  Henry  Daly,  G.C.B.);  did  gallant  service 
during  the  remainder  of  the  Mutiny;  was  subsequently 
made  into  three  regiments — ist,  and,  and  3rd  '  Hodson's 
Horse  ' ;  and  finally,  on  the  reorganisation  of  the  native 
army,  the  ist  and  2nd  regiments  were  renumbered 
and  renamed  gth  and  loth  Bengal  Lancers  (both  these 
regiments  retaining  the  additional  title  of  '  Hodson's 
Horse  '),  whilst  the  3rd  regiment  was  disbanded.  I  do 
not  wish  to  be  invidious,  but  I  have  no  hesitation  in  say- 
ing that  the  gth  and  loth  (Duke  of  Cambridge's  Own) 
Bengal  Lancers  are  quite  among  the  pick  of  the  Bengal 
cavalry  of  the  present  day — in  each  case  mainly  due  to 
the  Sikh  and  Punjabi  element  they  possess,  the  result  of 
Hodson's  great  name  and  reputation  amongst  the  natives 
of  the  Punjab,  whereby  he  secured  the  best  and  most 
warlike  men  to  his  standard."  x 

Meanwhile  a  committee  of  eminent  officers  assembled 
at  Calcutta  in  order  to  provide  some  lasting  memorial  of 
their  glorious  brother-in-arms.  They  decided  that  it 
should  take  the  form  of  a  monument  in  Lichfield 
Cathedral,  which  was  afterwards  erected  from  the  designs 
of  the  late  Mr.  G.  E.  Street,  R.A.  On  this  he  is  repre- 
sented as  receiving  the  sword  of  the  King  of  Delhi. 

"  It  will  doubtless  excite  surprise,"  as  Mr.  George 
H.  Hodson  naturally  remarks,  "  that  one  whom  the 
commander-in-chief  pronounced  '  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
soldiers  under  his  command  ' — one  whom  all  ranks  of  the 
army  in  India  reckoned  amongst  their  bravest  and  most 
skilful  leaders — one  whom  the  popular  voice  has  already 
enrolled  amongst  the  heroes  of  the  nation — one  whose 
name  was  '  known,  either  in  love  or  fear,  by  every  native 
from  Calcutta  to  Kabul,' — should  have  received  during 
his  life,  with  the  exception  of  a  brevet  majority  (to  which 
he  was  entitled  for  services  in  1849),  no  recognition  of 
gallant  services  and  deeds  of  daring,  one-tenth  part  of 
which  would  have  covered  many  of  fortune's  favourites 
with  decorations."  2 

That  his  services,  however,  were  not  forgotten  or  under- 
rated by  his  countrymen  at  home  may  be  seen  from  some 
of  the  tributes  paid  to  his  memory  by  the  statesmen  and 
1  Old  Memories.  *  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse. 


Conclusion  263 

writers  of  his  day.  On  the  i4th  April,  1859,  both  Houses 
of  Parliament  met  to  record  a  solemn  vote  of  thanks  to 
the  Indian  army.  In  the  course  of  an  eloquent  speech 
on  this  occasion  the  Prime  Minister,  Lord  Derby,  made 
special  reference  to  the  two  men  by  "  whose  premature 
death  India,  at  all  events,  has  sustained  a  most  serious 
loss.  I  allude  to  two  men,  both  of  them  models  of  chiefs 
of  irregular  forces,  which  they  themselves  had  formed 
and  disciplined  from  among  tribes  and  natives  who  had 
not  long  before  been  our  enemies,  over  whom  by  their 
valour,  their  rigid  discipline,  and  at  the  same  time  by 
their  careful  attention  .to  their  real  wants,  comforts, 
desires,  and  even  prejudices,  they  had  obtained  an 
influence  which  was  all  but  marvellous,  and  which  enabled 
them  to  lead  their  troops  so  formed  and  disciplined  into 
any  danger  and  into  any  conflict  with  as  much  confidence 
as  if  they  had  been  British  soldiers.  One  of  these  men 
has  met  a  soldier's  death,  the  other,  unhappily,  has 
succumbed  under  labours  which  were  too  great  even  for 
his  vast  powers;  but  it  will  be  long  before  the  people  of 
India,  I  am  sure  it  will  be  long  before  the  Punjab  and 
Sind,  will  lose  the  memory  of  Hodson's  Guides  and 
Jacob's  Horse." 

In  the  House  of  Commons,  Lord  Stanley,  the  new 
Minister  for  India,  spoke  of  Major  Hodson  as  one  "  who, 
in  his  short  but  brilliant  military  career,  displayed  every 
quality  which  an  officer  should  possess.  Nothing  is  more 
remarkable  in  glancing  over  the  biography  of  Major 
Hodson  that  has  just  appeared,  than  the  variety  of 
services  in  which  he  was  engaged.  At  one  time  he  dis- 
played his  great  personal  courage  and  skill  as  a  swords- 
man in  conflict  with  Sikh  fanatics ;  he  was  then  transferred 
to  the  Civil  Service,  in  which  he  performed  his  duties  as 
though  he  had  passed  his  whole  life  at  the  desk,  after- 
wards recruiting  and  commanding  the  corps  of  Guides; 
and,  lastly,  taking  part  in  the  operations  before  Delhi, 
volunteering  for  every  enterprise  in  which  life  could  be 
hazarded  or  glory  could  be  won.  He  crowded  into  the 
brief  space  of  eleven  eventful  years  the  services  and 
adventures  of  a  long  life.  He  died  when  his  reward  was 
assured,  obtaining  only  that  reward  which  he  most 


264  Major  W.  Hodson 

coveted — the  consciousness  of  duty  done,  and  the  assur- 
ance of  enduring  military  renown." 

"  There  was  not  a  man  before  Delhi  who  did  not 
know  Hodson,"  remarked  the  writer  of  some  excellent 
papers  in  Blackwood's  Magazine;  "  always  active,  always 
cheery,  it  did  one's  heart  good  to  look  at  his  face  when 
all  felt  how  critical  was  our  position.  Ask  any  soldier 
who  was  the  bravest  man  before  Delhi,  who  most  in  the 
saddle,  who  foremost?  and  nine  out  of  ten  in  the  infantry 
will  tell  you  Hodson,  in  the  artillery  as  many  will  name 
Tombs. 

"  I  once  heard  one  of  the  Fusiliers  say,  '  Whenever  I 
sees  Captain  Hodson  go  out,  I  always  prays  for  him,  for 
he  is  sure  to  be  in  danger.'  Yet  it  was  not  only  in  the 
field  that  Hodson  was  to  be  valued,  his  head  was  as 
active  as  his  hand  was  strong,  and  I  feel  sure,  when  we 
who  knew  him  heard  of  his  death,  not  one  but  felt  that 
there  was  a  vacancy  indeed  in  our  ranks." 

"  Major  Hodson,"  wrote  the  Times,  "  has  been  from 
the  very  beginning  of  this  war  fighting  everywhere  and 
against  any  odds  with  all  the  spirit  of  a  paladin  of  old. 
His  most  remarkable  exploit,  the  capture  of  the  King 
of  Delhi  and  his  two  sons,  astonished  the  world  by  its 
courage  and  coolness.  Hodson  was  indeed  a  man  who, 
from  his  romantic  daring  and  his  knowledge  of  the  Asiatic 
character,  was  able  to  beat  the  natives  at  their  own 
weapons.  We  could  better  have  spared  an  older  and 
more  highly  placed  officer." 

The  impression  which  Hodson  made  upon  those  who 
knew  him  intimately  may  be  gathered  from  the  picture 
drawn  of  him  by  the  lady  from  whom  I  have  already 
quoted : — 

"  There  was  an  indescribable  charm  of  manner  about 
him,  combining  all  the  gentle  playfulness  of  the  boy, 
the  deep  tenderness  of  the  woman,  and  the  vigorous 
decision  of  the  soldier. 

"  His  powers  of  attraction  extended  even  to  animals; 
and  it  was  touching  to  see  his  large  white  Persian  cat 
following  him  from  room  to  room,  escaping  from  the 
caresses  of  others  to  nestle  by  him.  I  have  often  watched 
the  pretty  creature  as  he  threw  himself  exhausted  with 


Conclusion  265 

the  day's  work  on  an  easy-chair  or  sofa,  rubbing  himself 
against  his  master,  whisking  the  long  white  tail  against 
his  fair  moustache,  and  courting  the  endearments  liberally- 
bestowed.  Restless  with  others,  pussy  was  at  rest  if 
established  by  him. 

"  At  Delhi  there  was  a  wild  shy  little  kitten  which 
fled  from  every  one  else,  but  mewed  provokingly  when- 
ever he  appeared — would  jump  on  his  knee  with  all  the 
familiarity  of  an  old  friend. 

"  With  his  horses  he  had  the  same  power  of  domestica- 
tion. They  yielded  to  the  sound  of  his  voice  with  the 
instinct  that  seemed  to  convey  to  all  that  in  him  they 
had  found  master  and  friend.  .  .  . 

"  His  joyousness  of  nature  made  him  the  most  charm- 
ing companion.  There  was  a  certain  quaintness  of 
expression  which  gave  zest  to  all  he  said;  and  yet  there 
was  a  reverence,  too,  so  that,  were  subjects  graver  than 
usual  introduced  even  by  allusion,  they  at  once  com- 
manded his  earnest  response." 

"  I  admired  him,"  writes  Sir  Charles  Gough,  "  for  his 
gallantry  in  leading;  his  abounding  energy,  activity, 
and  resource  in  difficulties;  his  coolness  in  danger;  and 
his  genial,  cheerful,  and  kindly  disposition."  1 

Many  years  afterwards  a  distribution  of  prizes  occurred 
at  the  Martiniere  College,  near  Hodson's  last  resting- 
place.  A  reference  made  by  the  Principal  to  Hodson  of 
Hodson's  Horse  as  the  genius  loci,  and  to  the  slanderous 
attacks  made  upon  him,  was  followed  by  a  speech  from 
General  M.  Dillon,  thus  reported  in  a  local  newspaper: 
"  As  one  who  knew  him  in  the  field,  and  as  one  who  was 
intimately  associated  for  many  years  with  the  greatest 
soldier  of  the  time,  General  Sir  Robert  Napier,  now  Lord 
Napier  of  Magdala,  I  am  in  a  position  not  only  to  give 
my  own  opinion,  but  to  state  that  General  Napier  was 
on  the  most  intimate  terms  with  Hodson  during  almost 
the  whole  of  the  career  of  that  dashing  soldier,  and  that 
he  had  the  highest  opinion  of  him.  I  have  no  hesitation 
in  characterising  the  attacks  that  have  been  made,  in  the 
face  too  of  the  verdict  of  such  a  soldier  as  Lord  Napier  of 
Magdala,  as  ungenerous,  unwarrantable,  and  atrocious."  2 

1  Letter  quoted  in  Blackwood's  Magazine  for  March  1899. 
*  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse. 


266  Major  W.  Hodson 

In  a  letter  of  October,  1885,  to  General  Mitford  the 
same  officer  writes:  "  Lord  Napier,  who  had  known  him 
in  an  administrative  capacity  and  in  the  field,  held  him 
in  the  highest  esteem,  as  did  also  Sir  Henry  Lawrence. 
We  know  what  the  army  thought  of  him — I  would  that 
there  were  many  like  him  to  lead  and  set  the  example 
which  he  gave  to  us." 

To  the  last  Lord  Napier  of  Magdala  retained  his  old 
belief  in  Hodson's  moral  worth.  Writing  to  his  friend's 
biographer  in  November,  1883,  he  says:  "  I  am  much 
obliged  for  the  perusal  of  your  preface  to  the  new  edition 
of  your  Memoir  of  your  brother.  I  am  now,  as  I  have 
always  been,  fully  convinced  of  his  honour  and  integrity." 
To  the  same  effect  Sir  James  Outram,  a  man  as  shrewd 
as  he  was  generous,  had  borne  his  testimony  shortly  after 
Hodson's  death.  "  I  was  a  great  admirer  of  Hodson," 
he  wrote  to  his  brother,  "  and  gave  no  credit  to  the  stories 
against  him." 

Among  Hodson's  warmest  admirers  was  the  late  George 
C.  Barnes,  who,  as  Commissioner  of  the  Cis-Satlaj  States, 
had  done  excellent  service  from  the  very  outset  of  the 
Mutiny.  Like  many  other  of  John  Lawrence's  men,  he 
had  been  strongly  prejudiced  against  Hodson  by  the 
stories  current  after  Hodson's  dismissal  from  the  com- 
mand of  the  Guides — stories  founded,  as  we  have  seen, 
upon  the  virtual  suppression  of  Reynell  Taylor's  report. 
His  eyes  had  since  been  opened  to  the  truth  by  Mr. 
Sloggett's  timely  explanations,  who  had  been  invited  ta 
meet  a  large  company  of  officers  and  civilians  at  his 
house. 

"  In  the  course  of  conversation,"  says  Mr.  Sloggett, 
"  having  just  opened  at  the  table  some  letters  brought 
in  from  Delhi,  he  said,  '  So !  Hodson  has  been  at  his  old 
tricks  again.'  I  thought  it  only  right  to  rise  and  ask 
for  an  explanation,  and  finding  that  all  Mr.  Barnes  had 
heard  of  and  alluded  to  were  those  I  have  mentioned  and 
one  other  I  will  presently  explain,  I  told  him  and  the 
others  present  about  Reynell  Taylor's  report,  which  none 
of  them  had  heard  of;  the  purchase  of  the  house  at 
Umbala,  and  the  Rs.  10,000  charge. 

"  The  fourth  was  as  follows:   Some  two  months  before 


Conclusion  267 

Delhi  fell,  he  was  sent  to  destroy  a  small  fort  which  was 
being  armed  against  us  by  a  native  chief.  On  his  way 
he  met  another  hostile  chief  with  an  array  of  armed  men, 
much  outnumbering  his  own,  whom  he  defeated  after  a 
sharp  but  short  conflict.  The  chief  himself  was  one  of 
the  first  to  fall,  shot  through  the  heart;  and  as  Hodson 
returned  after  the  pursuit,  over  the  field,  he  saw  some- 
thing glitter  on  the  ground  and  picked  up  a  very  beautiful 
and  valuable  jewelled  ornament,  a  golden  butterfly,  soiled 
and  dented  by  its  fall  upon  the  hard  ground.  This  he 
brought  and  gave  to  his  wife,  who  was  fond  of  displaying 
it,  with  the  dirt  still  adhering.  Afterwards  she  wore  it, 
and  from  this  the  story  spread  that  it  had  been  looted 
by  him  at  Delhi,  where  I  had  seen  it  two  months  before 
the  city  fell,  and  knew,  for  I  heard  the  story  confirmed  by 
others,  the  true  account  of  its  possession. 

"  After  giving  this  explanation,  Mr.  Barnes  thanked 
me  very  warmly,  and  set  himself  from  that  time  to  make 
Hodson's  acquaintance,  and  this  in  such  a  friendly  spirit 
that  he  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  one  of  his  best  and 
warmest  friends.  And  not  he  only,  but  all  the  men  I 
knew  who  got  intimate  with  Hodson  liked  him,  and  did 
not  believe  the  many  stories  to  his  prejudice — which  by 
others,  because  of  his  very  reputation,  were  too  often 
carelessly  repeated,  and  became,  however  unintentionally, 
magnified  in  the  repetition.  .  .  . 

"  And  I  can  say  this  much,  that  there  was  nothing 
apparently  mean  or  low  about  him.  With  all  his  faults 
and  his  arbitrary  character,  he  was  a  high-minded  man, 
fearlessly  outspoken  in  his  judgment  of  many  who  were 
only  too  likely  to  have  his  words  brought  back  to  them."  * 

"  His  faults  we  have  already  seen,"  sums  up  the  able 
writer  in  Blackwood's  Magazine  for  March  1899;  "  they 
were  enumerated  years  before  his  death  by  his  best  friend, 
Henry  Lawrence.  But  it  was  to  his  good  points,  just 
those  so  well  set  forth  by  his  old  subaltern,  that  he  owed 
the  lifelong  friendship  of  such  men  as  Robert  Napier, 
Robert  Montgomery,  and  Thomas  Seaton;  and  to  these 
characteristics  too  it  was  that  he  owed  the  love  and  the 
admiration  of  his  men.  As  in  the  corps  of  Guides,  so  in 
1  MS.  letter  from  Rev.  C.  Sloggett. 


268  Major  W.  Hodson 

his  own  regiment  of  Horse,  he  was  the  object  not  only  of 
respect  but  of  veneration.  To  this  day  the  few  remain- 
ing of  those  who  served  under  him,  and  the  sons  of  those 
who  served  under  him,  speak  of  him  by  the  title  given  him 
by  the  old  King  of  Delhi— Hodson  Sahib  Bahadur.  His 
corps  of  Horse  has  long  since  been  split  up  into  the  gth 
and  loth  regiments  of  Bengal  Lancers,  and  the  latter 
has  been  honoured  by  receiving  the  title  of  Duke  of 
Cambridge's  Own;  but  no  matter  how  they  may  be 
officially  known,  or  what  titles  may  be  given  them,  the 
name  which  they  never  forget,  and  which  they  most 
delight  to  honour,  is  that  of  Hodson's  Horse." 

What  more  remains  to  say  concerning  this  great  gifted 
soldier,  who  had  gone  through  so  many  crowded  hours 
of  glorious  life  during  those  twelve  years  of  Indian  service, 
and  had  died,  like  his  compeer  Nicholson,  at  an  age  when 
few  men  have  clearly  learned  how  best  to  realise  the 
promise  of  their  youth?  To  such  a  question  no  answer 
need,  I  think,  be  given  here.  The  impartial  reader  of 
this  Memoir  will  at  least  be  able  to  judge  for  himself  how 
far  I  have  failed  or  succeeded  in  clearing  the  fair  fame 
of  William  Hodson  from  the  obloquy  which  assailed  it 
during  his  lifetime,  and  has  continued  to  blacken  and 
-disfigure  it  ever  since  his  death. 


APPENDIX  A 

From  Major  Reynell  G.  Taylor,  late  Commandant  of  Guide 
Corps,  to  Major  J.  D.  Macpherson,  Mily.  Secy.  to- 
Chief  Commissioner,  Lahore.  Dated  Jhelum,  Feb.  13^ 
1856. 

SIR, — In  accordance  with  the  instructions  contained  in 
your  letter,  No.  3369,  of  the  loth  November,  I  have  the 
honour  to  report,  for  the  information  of  the  Chief  Com- 
missioner, that  the  result  of  my  examination  of  Lieutenant 
Hodson's  accounts  has  been  quite  satisfactory. 

2.  The  period  embraced  is  from  the  loth  of  March,  1853, 
to  the  close  of  1854.    Lieutenant  Hodson  succeeded  to 
the  command  of  the  Guide  Corps  at  an  earlier  period  than 
the  first-named  date ;  but  at  that  time  the  accounts  were 
kept   by   the   adjutant,   and    Lieutenant   Hodson   first 
assumed  direct  management  of  the  regimental  accounts 
on  the  above  date — namely,  the  loth  of  March,  1853 — on 
which  occasion  he  received  a  distinct  balance  in  cash 
from  Lieutenant  Turner,  and  also  an  open  statement 
showing  the  sums  which  he,  Lieutenant  Turner,  believed 
to  be  claimable  from  the  chest  and  due  to  it:  this  open 
statement  I  shall  notice  elsewhere. 

3.  Commencing  with  the  cash  balance  received  from 
Lieutenant  Turner,  the  acccounts  were  carried  on  as 
previously  in  a  general  day-book  embracing  all  trans- 
actions, written  for  the  first  (13)  thirteen  months  by 
Moonshee  Nujjuf  Allee,  one  of  the  regimental  moonshees. 
As  this  man  subsequently  became  Lieutenant  Hodson's 
accuser,  and  strove  to  throw  discredit  on  his  own  account, 
it  is  this  period  of  (13)  thirteen  months  that  has  required 
the  most  careful  and  sifting  examination. 

4.  From  the  4th  of  April,  1854,  to  the  close  of  the  same 
year  the  day-book  was  kept  by  the  other  regimental 
moonshee,  Goordeal,  and  as  audited  bills  for  (9)  nine 

269 


270  Major  W.  Hodson 

months,  1853,  and  January,  1854,  were  only  received  in 
February  1854,  and  contained  a  large  amount  of  retrench- 
ments, which  had  to  be  gradually  adjusted  in  the  sub- 
sequent portion  of  the  account,  the  examination  of  the 
records  of  the  remaining  (8)  eight  months  could  hardly 
be  considered  less  important  than  that  of  the  first  (13) 
thirteen;  but  from  the  fact  of  the  accounts  having  been 
kept  in  better  form,  with  more  collateral  books  of  detail 
to  support  and  explain  them,  their  scrutiny  was  more 
rapidly  accomplished. 

5.  Besides   the   above   current   accounts,    Lieutenant 
Hodson,  soon  after  taking  command  of  the  regiment, 
caused  a  transcript  of  the  available  Persian  records  to 
be  made  by  one  Moonshee  Bachee  Lall  in  the  Hindi 
character.     This  transcript  was  set  about  with  the  express 
object  of  obtaining  a  more  correct  and  detailed  knowledge 
of  all  previous  transactions  than  was  furnished  by  the 
accounts  which  had  been  kept  first  by  Lieutenant  Hawes 
(in  English)  and  then  by  his  successor,  Lieutenant  Turner 
(in  Persian),  which,  though  good  records  of  the  receipts 
and  disbursements  which  had  passed  through  the  hands 
of  those  officers,  were  no  evidence  of  the  real  financial 
state  of  the  regiment,  as  they  had  never  been  balanced 
periodically,  and  when  made  over  furnished  no  detail  of 
the  balance  then  in  hand. 

6.  It  was,  then,  in  the  hope  of  thoroughly  clearing  the 
account  from  end  to  end,  and  obtaining  a  detail  of  the 
balance  for  which  he  was  liable,  that  Lieutenant  Hodson 
set  Moonshee  Bachee  Lall  to  work  at  his  transcript  of  the 
accounts,  and  he  first  wrote  out  the  cash-book  kept  by 
Subadar  Peer  Buksh,  then  that  by  Munawar  Alice  under 
Lieutenant  Turner's  supervision,  then  Nujjuf  Alice's  own, 
the  transcript  of  which,  after  being  brought  up  to  date, 
was  continued  from  day  to  day  as  a  check. 

7.  An  attempt  to  complete  a  khata  or  balanced  account 
from  Peer  Buksh's  day-book  failed,  and  that  the  main 
object  of  the  original  effort  was  unsuccessful  is  best 
evidenced  by  the  fact  of  its  not  having  been  yet  accom- 
plished ;  and  after  Lieutenant  Hodson,  Lieutenant  Godby, 
and  myself  have  sat  in  voluntary   committee  on  the 
accounts  for  some  months,  we  are  unable  to  give  the 


Appendix  A  271 

details  of  a  large  portion  of  the  balance  of  the  chest  at 
the  close  of  1854,  or  say  whether  the  money  belongs  to 
the  former  commandant,  Major  Lumsden,  or  to  Govern- 
ment. The  presumption  is  that  to  a  great  extent  the 
former  is  the  case,  as  that  officer  is  known  to  have  taken 
less  than  his  due  on  many  occasions.  It  amounts  to  this, 
that  Lieutenant  Hawes,  on  making  over  the  accounts  to 
Lieutenant  Turner,  took  his  receipt  for  an  actual  cash 
balance  of  about  4500  rupees,  but  did  not  or  was  unable 
to  furnish  him  with  any  detail  of  it;  and  you  will  see 
that  a  similar  sum  remains  in  the  chest  as  an  undetailed 
balance  after  a  general  clearance  of  the  accounts. 

8.  This  was  the  nature  of  the  account  to  which  Lieu- 
tenant Hodson  succeeded — everything  known  to  be  in  the 
main  correct,  but  the  whole  unbalanced  and  undetailed; 
and  it  must  be  recorded  that  he  did  not,  on  first  obtain- 
ing command  of  the  Guides,  formally  examine  and  take 
charge  of  the  accounts.     He  had  long  been  connected 
with  the  regiment,  and  knew  all  the  difficulty  and  con- 
fusion that  had  been  caused  in  its  payment  by  a  long 
period  of  ubiquitous  service,  during  which  its  numerous 
detachments  had  been  paid  by  the  various  officers  to 
whom  they  had  been  temporarily  attached,  causing  a 
constant  and  most  troublesome  system  of  adjustment 
from  the  headquarters,  which  latter  were  also  usually 
on  the  move,  and  the  commanding  officer  obliged  to  take 
frequent  advances  from  political  or  civil  treasuries.     He 
knew,  from  the  character  of  the  men  that  had  been 
connected  with  the  regiment,  that  everything,  as  I  have 
said  above,  must  be  in  the  main  sound  and  correct;  and 
having  just  attained  the  chief  object  of  his  ambition,  he 
felt  no  inclination  to  make  objection  and  clamour  about 
a  state  of  things  which  he  knew  to  be,  to  a  great  extent, 
unavoidable,  and  to  which  his  mind  was  accustomed. 

9.  I  have  tried  to  describe  simply  my  own  idea  of  the 
state  of  feeling  under  which  Lieutenant  Hodson  omitted 
to  do  what  was  certainly  his  natural  and  obvious  duty 
on  the  occasion  of  taking  command.     The  omission,  of 
course,  rendered  him  materially  responsible  for  all  clear 
and  ascertained  claims  that  might  arise;   and  the  result 
was  injurious  to  him,  as  it  led  to  sums  of  money  being 


272  Major  W.  Hodson 

spoken  of  as  due  by  the  chest,  concerning  which,  from  his 
vague  and  ill-defined  knowledge  of  the  balance  for  which 
he  was  really  answerable,  he  was  unable  to  feel  certain 
of  his  own  liability  until  the  whole  accounts,  from  begin- 
ning to  end,  had  been  examined  and  balanced. 

10.  When  Lieutenant  Hodson  did  turn  his  attention 
to  the  accounts,  he  made  considerable  efforts  to  under- 
stand and  make  a  clearance  of  them.     I  do  not  say  but 
that  these  efforts  might  have  been  more  determined  and 
sustained,  but  the  task  was  not  an  easy  one,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Hodson  believed  that  he  would  have  leisure  for 
its  completion. 

11.  His  own  accounts  meantime  continued  to  be  written 
in  one  general  cash-book,  which  has  proved  to  have  been 
a  correct  record  of  all  transactions;    but  unfortunately 
this  was  never  balanced  periodically,  and  hence  the  time 
and  trouble  occupied  in  finally  adjusting  his  account. 

12.  And  here  I  must  remark  that  Lieutenant  Hodson 
must  be  considered  to  have  furnished  a  correct  statement 
of  all  transactions  during  the  period  of  his  command, 
when  he  gave  in  an  English  translation  of  his  cash-book 
in  April  last.     He   subsequently   prepared   a   balanced 
account  of  the  whole  period  from  this  cash-book,  which 
was  submitted  to  the  Chief  Commissioner,  and  finally 
sent  to  me  for  examination  and  verification.     I  caused 
its  dissection,  and  examined  the  minutest  details  of  every 
item,  and  found  some  errors  and  some  necessity  for  re- 
arrangement of  the  various  heads  of  credit  and  debit; 
but  this  did  not  in  the  least  affect  the  correctness  of  the 
original  day-book,  and  the  two  must  not  be  confounded. 
All  the  labour  bestowed  on  the  preparation  of  a  balanced 
account  has  only  had  the  effect  of  thoroughly  testing  the 
validity  of  the  original  book,  and  that  I  consider  satis- 
factorily established.    That  the  task  of  throwing  the 
whole  into  the  form  of  a  balanced  ledger,  after  a  rigid 
scrutiny  of  all  details,  has  cost  time  and  trouble  in  un- 
practised hands,  cannot  affect  its  character  as  a  true 
record. 

13.  It  was  for  the  correctness  of  the  cash-book  that 
Lieutenant  Hodson  vouched  in  his  letter  to  you,  No.  43, 
dated  Peshawar,  2ist  of  March,  1855,  as  is  clear  from  the 


Appendix  A  273 

contents  of  paragraphs  five  and  six  of  that  letter;  but  I 
have  good  reason  (not  derived  from  Lieutenant  Hodson 
himself)  to  believe  that  the  voucher  contained  in  the  latter 
part  of  paragraph  six  above  alluded  to  was  subsequently 
supposed  to  apply  to  the  summary  statement  of  assests, 
liabilities,  and  balance  for  which  you  called  on  him,  by 
the  Chief  Commissioner's  directions,  in  your  letter,  No. 
142,  of  the  4th  of  April  1855,  and  151,  of  the  gth  idem, 
and  which  being  hastily  compiled  by  the  moonshees,  and 
taken  from  the  result  of  their  work  by  Lieutenant  Hodson, 
as  stated  in  the  second  paragraph  of  his  letter  (No.  62, 
dated  Peshawar,  nth  of  April  1855)  forwarding  it,  proved 
in  a  great  measure  to  be  incorrect  and  useless.  Should 
the  above  misconception  have  occurred,  it  may  well  have 
told  most  unfavourably  for  Lieutenant  Hodson,  as  the 
appearance  of  the  matter  would  be  that  he  had  promised 
to  furnish  an  account  which  should  stand  any  test,  and 
subsequently  submitted  one  which  was  in  several  points 
incorrect,  and  on  being  addressed  by  the  deputy  judge 
advocate-general  on  the  subject,  wrote  back  declaring 
that  he  had  never  vouched  for  its  correctness. 

14.  You  will  know  whether  this  game  of  cross-purposes 
really  occurred:    the  probability  of  its  having  done  so 
only  became  known  to  Lieutenant  Hodson  at  the  same 
time  that  it  did  to  myself,  as  he  was  not  present  when 
the  above-mentioned  abstract  statement  was  examined 
by  the  court  of  inquiry. 

15.  I  shall  here  briefly  enumerate  the  causes  which  led 
to  doubt  being  cast  upon  the  accounts.     I  believe  them 
all  but  one  to  admit  of  satisfactory  explanation  by  the 
accounts,  and  I  therefore  think  it  fair  to  Lieutenant 
Hodson  to  notice  them  in  detail. 

1 6.  First,   Lieutenant   Turner,   the   adjutant   of   the 
regiment,  expressed  a  belief  that  a  duffadar,  who  had 
taken  his  discharge,  had  not  been  fairly  treated  concern- 
ing a  horse  purchased  from  him  by  Lieutenant  Hodson; 
and  further,  that  the  Chunda  fund  of  the  regiment  had 
suffered  by  the  same  transaction. 

17.  Secondly,  Moonshee   Nujjuf  Alice   asserted   that 
Lieutenant  Hodson  had  in  August  1853  taken  a  large 
sum — about  3000  rupees — out  of  the  regimental  chest  for 


274  Major  W.  Hodson 

his  own  purposes,  when,  from  the  fact  of  his  pay  having 
been  retrenched  in  the  pay-office,  he  had  no  funds  to 
draw  upon. 

18.  Thirdly,  The  same  moonshee  claimed  a  sum  of 
(Company's  rupees  270)  Company's  rupees  two  hundred 
and  seventy  as  due  to  him  by  account  from  the  chest, 
and  also  made  two  other  claims  on  Lieutenant  Hodson 
himself — one    for    (Company's    rupees    65)    Company's 
rupees  sixty-five  personal  pay,  and  another  for  (Company's 
rupees  85)  Company's  rupees  eighty-five  on  account  of 
stationery,  etc.,  for  the  office. 

19.  Fourthly,  The  same  man  insinuated  that  Lieutenant 
Hodson  had  defrauded  Government  of  the  pay  of  deceased 
men,  deserters,  dismounted  sowars,  fines,  etc. 

20.  Fifthly,  Moonshee  Nujjuf  Alice,  when  called  upon 
to  prove  his  chief  allegation  by  his  own  accounts,  declared 
that  alterations  had  been  made  in  the  book  since  it  left 
his  hands. 

21.  Sixthly,  Nujjuf  Alice's  cash-book  alluded  to  proved, 
when  examined  before  the  court  of  inquiry,  to  be  so  full 
of  erasures  and  corrections  that  it  was  pronounced  unfit 
to  be  received  as  evidence. 

22.  Seventhly,  It  was  supposed  that  there  were  not  funds 
to  cover  certain  considerable  sums  of  money  which  it  was 
known  should  be  in  the  chest. 

23.  Eighthly,  At  the  time  of  the  sitting  of  the  court  a 
number  of  claims  were  preferred  by  soldiers  and  others 
for  sums  of  money  due  to  them  on  various  accounts,  and 
other   miscellaneous   matters   which   appeared   to   bear 
unfavourably  on  the  accounts  were  mentioned  before  the 
court  of  inquiry. 

24.  I  shall  notice  these  eight  heads  in  order  as  briefly 
as  I  can,  but  it  is  not  easy  in  a  case  like  this  to  be  concise 
and  intelligible  at  the  same  time. 

25.  First,  then,  with  regard  to  the  case  of  Feroze  Khan, 
duffadar,  with  the  chief  circumstances  of  which  the  Chief 
Commissioner  is  familiar,  I  need  only  report  that  I  have 
carefully  examined  the  various  payments  and  repayments 
in  the  case,  and  believe  them  to  be  correct  and  true 
entries. 

26.  Thus  Lieutenant  Hodson  was  to  give  Feroze  Khan, 


Appendix  A  275 

duffadar,  (Company's  rupees  150)  Company's  rupees  one 
hundred  and  fifty  for  his  horse,  or  another  of  equal 
value. 

27.  On   the    igth  of   December,   Lieutenant  Hodson 
advanced  him  (Company's  rupees  150)  one  hundred  and 
fifty  from  his  private  account  when  he  was  proceeding 
to  Chuch  to  look  for  a  horse. 

28.  On  returning  from  Chuch  unsuccessful,  Feroze  Khan 
repaid  this  (Company's  rupees  150)  Company's  rupees  one 
hundred  and  fifty  into  the  chest,  and  the  sum,  instead  of 
being  recredited  to  Lieutenant  Hodson.  was  erroneously 
credited  to  Feroze  Khan  as  a  deposit. 

29.  On  the  1 3th  of  January,  Lieutenant  Hodson  paid 
to   Azadgul    Khan,    duffadar,   (Company's   rupees    200) 
Company's  rupees  two  hundred  from  his  private  account 
for  a  horse  purchased  from  him,  and  which  had  previously 
been  made  over  to  Feroze  Khan,  in  lieu  of  the  i5o-rupee 
horse  taken  from  him. 

30.  Feroze  Khan  took  his  discharge  from  the  3ist  of 
January,  and  was  paid  up  in  full  on  the  3rd  of  March,  at 
which  time  pay  for  January  had  not,  however,  been 
received.     Lieutenant    Hodson    on    this    occasion    re- 
purchased the  2oo-rupee  horse  for  the  regiment,  and 
advanced  the  money  himself,  as  the  Chunda  could  not 
buy  the  horse  till  pay  was  received.     At  this  time  Feroze 
Khan  received  the  original  sum  of  150  rupees  standing 
incorrectly  in  his  name  as  a  deposit  in  the  chest,  and 
another  50  rupees  made  up  as  follows:    49  rupees  paid 
to  him  by  Lieutenant  Hodson's  own  servant,  and  i  rupee 
from  his  private  account  in  the  chest.     It  was  the  entry 
of  this  49  rupees  in  a  memorandum  attached  to  the  pay- 
ment of  i  rupee  on  the  3rd  of  March  which  the  Chief 
Commissioner  drew  my  attention  to  as  the  only  item, 
bad  as  the  state  of  Nujjuf  Alice's  book  was,  that  appeared 
to  him  really  suspicious.     I  have,  therefore,  carefully 
examined  this,  as  well  as  the  previous  entries,  and  though 
they  are  as  irregular  and  out  of  rule  as  they  can  be,  I 
cannot  under  the  circumstances,  and  after  having  acquired 
a  certain  familiarity  with  Nujjuf  Alice's  style  of  book- 
keeping, regard  any  one  of  them  as  suspicious.    The 
irregularity  consists  in  the  subjunction  of  explanatory 


276  Major  W.  Hodson 

notes;  but  as  this  appears  to  have  been  the  moonshee's 
usual  system,  and  as  it  is  so  very  natural  a  one  for  a 
man  whose  natural  calling  was  certainly  not  that  of  an 
accountant  to  pursue  when  his  chief  object  was  to  keep 
a  record  that  he  should  himself  be  able  to  understand, 
and  when,  in  all  probability,  he  may  often  not  have  fully 
understood  the  nature  of  a  payment  till  some  time  after 
it  had  been  made,  that  I  cannot  think  that  the  fact  of 
the  entries  being  irregular  and  explained  by  notes  in- 
validates their  testimony. 

31.  In  the  case  of  the  49  rupees  above  noted,  Lieutenant 
Hodson's  recollection  of  the  matter  is,  that  when  Feroze 
Khan  was  going  he  had  to  receive  200  rupees  for  the  horse. 
The  150  rupees  was  paid  him  from  deposit,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Hodson  told  an  orderly  whom  he  believed  to  have 
that  amount  of  his  in  his  charge  to  pay  him  the  other  50. 
This  last  sum,  when  counted  by  Feroze  Khan,  was  found 
to  be  short  by  i  rupee,  which  Lieutenant  Hodson  then 
ordered  the  moonshee  to  give  him  from  his  account  in 
the  chest.     The  payment  of  i  rupee  to  Feroze  Khan  from 
Lieutenant  Hodson's  private  account  appears  on  the  same 
day  that  Feroze  Khan  received  his  other  balances;   and 
to  it  is  attached  a  note  to  the  effect  that  Feroze  Khan 
had  really  received  50  rupees,  49  of  which  had  been  paid 
by   Lieutenant   Hodson   himself.    Nujjuf   Alice   denied 
having  added  this  note,  but  the  natives  who  had  con- 
demned his  book  before  the  court  decided  that  the  hand- 
writing of  the  note  was  certainly  his. 

32.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  duffadar  who  sold 
the  200-rupee  horse  given  to  Feroze  Khan,  and  another 
duffadar  who  eventually  received  it  after  Feroze  Khan's 
departure,  are  present  with  the  regiment,  while  the  whole 
circumstances  of  the  case  are  known  to  so  many  that  there 
is  no  room  for  the  supposition  that  the  truth  has  not  been 
arrived  at.    Add  to  this  that  Feroze  Khan  himself,  when 
questioned  by  the  court,  professed  himself  quite  satisfied 
as  far  as  his  money  dues  were  concerned;  for  I  believe 
the  root  of  the  whole  matter  to  have  been  that  he  had 
no  mind  to  part  with  his  original  horse,  and  that  he  did 
not  like  the  higher-priced  horse  given  him  in  place  of 
it  half  so  well.    It  appears,  however,  that  Lieutenant 


Appendix  A  277 

Hodson  did  give  him  opportunities  of  saying  this  if  he 
wished  it,  but  he  did  not  avail  himself  of  them,  though 
perhaps  at  heart  dissatisfied. 

33.  With  regard  to  the  idea  that  the  Chunda  fund  had 
suffered  by  having  to  purchase  a  2oo-rupee  horse  instead 
of  a  i5o-rupee  one,  which  without  some  explanation  might 
have  an  injurious  effect  with  those  who  have  no  exact 
knowledge  of  the  working  of  a  Chunda  fund,  I  would  put 
the  case  thus: — 

34.  Setting  aside  the  case  of  a  commanding  officer,  who 
had  better  have  nothing  to  do  with  a  transaction  of  the 
kind,  suppose  a  subordinate  officer  to  wish  to  purchase  a 
horse  from  a  sowar  in  the  ranks,  and  to  apply  to  his 
commanding  officer  for  permission  to  do  so,  he  would 
probably,  if  he  obtained  leave,  be  directed  to  be  careful 
to  give  the  man  a  full  and  fair  price  for  the  horse,  or  an 
equally  good  one  in  its  place,  would  he  not  then  be 
thought  to  have  done  the  thing  handsomely  if  he  gave 
a  2oo-rupee  horse  in  place  of  a  i5o-rupee  one?    And 
would  not  the  whole  transaction  be  considered  to  have 
closed  there  as  far  as  the  subordinate  officer  was  concerned  ? 
And  if  the  sowar  who  had  received  the  2oo-rupee  horse 
subsequently  took  his  discharge,  and  the  commanding 
officer  resolved  on  purchasing  the  horse  for  the  regiment, 
no  injury  would  be  done  to  the  regimental  fund ;  the  lesser 
and  the  higher  priced  horse  are  both  supposed  to  be  worth 
their  money,  and  each  to  have  their  respective  value  in 
the  market,  and  the  commanding  officer  may  of  course 
purchase  any  horse  within  the  price  fixed  by  Government 
that  he  thinks  will  be  an  acquisition  to  the  regiment.     I 
hope  I  have  explained  my  meaning,  and  that  the  Chief 
Commissioner  will  agree  in  my  view  of  the  case. 

35.  Secondly,  Nujjuf  Alice's   chief  allegation  against 
Lieutenant  Hodson — namely,  that  he  had  in  August  1853 
taken  a  large  sum  out  of  the  chest,  about  3000  rupees,  and 
in  the  subsequent  months  of  the  year  "  hundreds  of 
rupees,"  when,  through  a  retrenchment  in  the  pay-office, 
he  had  no  funds  to  draw  upon — must  fall  to  the  ground 
before  the  fact  that,  owing  to  the  transfer  of  the  regi- 
ment from  the  civil  to  the  military  department,  so  great 
delay  took  place  in  the  audit  of  the  pay  abstracts  of  the 


278  Major  W.  Hodson 

regiment  that  a  single  statement,  including  eight  months' 
pay  of  the  regiment — namely,  from  April  to  November 
1853 — was  only  received  from  the  pay-office  in  February 
1854,  and  those  of  December  1853  and  January  1854  were 
received  a  few  days  later  in  the  same  month,  making  the 
audit  of  ten  months'  pay  received  at  the  regiment  all  in 
one  month. 

36.  The  pay-bills  for  November  and  December  1852 
and  January  1853  were  received  subsequently  even  to 
the  above — namely,  in  April  1854 — from  the  civil  auditor; 
so  that  the  audit  of  thirteen  months  was  received  in  the 
course  of  three  months,  though  the  whole  of  these  months' 
pay  was  received  in  advances  from  the  civil  treasury  at 
Peshawar;  and  Lieutenant  Hodson,  like  others,  received 
the  full  amount  of  his  pay,  and  Nujjuf  Alice's  own  account 
shows  that  he  never  exceeded   it.    The  retrenchment 
spoken  of  by  the  moonshee  certainly  occurred,  but  it 
dated  from  the  2gth  of  August,  when  Lieutenant  Hodson 
went  on  leave;    and  the  pay  statement  and  notice  of 
retrenchment  only  having  been  received  in  February 
1854,  Lieutenant  Hodson  knew  nothing  about  it  till  that 
date.     His  pay  was  only  then  held  in  abeyance  for  a 
confirmation  of  his  leave. 

37.  With  regard  to  the  three  sums  claimed  by  Nujjuf 
Alice,  two  claims  seem  to  have  been  grounded  in  truth 
and  were  settled.    The  third,  for  a  sum  of  270  rupees, 
would  not,  I  think,  be  gained  in  a  civil  court;  but  were 
it  so,  the  money  would  have  to  be  recovered  from  Dr. 
Lyell,  to  whom  it  has  been  paid,  and  to  whom  it  appears 
to  have  been  due  by  account. 

38.  Nujjuf  Alice's  fourth  allegation  sounds  serious;  but 
it  amounts  to  this,  that  proper  records  of  the  estates  of 
deceased  men  and  deserters  and  of  fines  had  not  been 
kept  up,  so  that  the  money  received  remained  in  the  un- 
defined balance  of  the  chest,  while  dismounted  sowars  had, 
until  orders  were  received  for  a  different  course,  invariably 
received  full  pay.     In  both  these  instances  all  that  can 
be  said  is,  that  Lieutenant  Hodson  had  failed  to  improve 
upon  the  hitherto  prevailing  custom  of  the  regiment.     It 
will  be  remembered  that  one  of  Feroze  Khan's  causes  of 
discontent,  mentioned  by  him  to  Moonshee  Nujjuf  Allee, 


Appendix  A  279 

was  that  he  heard  that  he  was  to  receive  dismounted  pay 
for  the  time  he  had  been  looking  for  a  horse,  which  had 
not  hitherto  been  the  custom ;  as  it  was,  I  believe  he  was 
about  the  last  that  received  full  pay  for  the  period  during 
which  he  was  dismounted  under  the  old  system.  During 
Lieutenant  Hodson's  command  the  casualties  were  very 
few  in  number.  While  Nujjuf  Alice  was  in  charge  of  the 
accounts  (6)  six  casualties  by  decease  and  desertion 
occurred,  and  (7)  seven  instances  of  fines,  some  of  which 
latter  were  remitted. 

39.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  notice  the  fifth  point,  as 
in  the  only  instance  in  which  Nujjuf  Alice  particularised 
an  entry  as  not  his  own,  the  competent  natives  who  had 
condemned  his  book  before  the  court  of  inquiry  decided 
distinctly  that  the  note  appended  was  in  his  handwriting. 
In  the  original  payment  of  200  rupees  for  the  horse 
purchased  for  Feroze  Khan,  where  his  repudiation  of 
the  note  attached  might  have  been  of  importance,  Nujjuf 
Alice,  when  questioned  by  the  court,  allowed  that  the 
explanatory  note  was  his,  but  asserted  that  Lieutenant 
Hodson  had  no  funds  of  his  own  in  the  chest  at  the  time 
— an  assertion  sufficiently  answered  by  the  refutation  of 
his  chief  charge. 

40.  On  the  sixth  head,  if  Nujjuf  Alice's  day-book  be 
regarded  as  a  regimental  account  liable  to  audit,  I  can 
say  nothing  in  defence  of  it,  as  it  is  so  cobbled  and 
amended  that  it  is  wholly  unfit  for  evidence ;  but  it  is  an 
improvement  on  its  predecessor  kept  by  Subadar  £eer 
Buksh,  which  was  seen  by  the  members  of  the  court  of 
inquiry  and  impounded  by  them;   and  further,  taken  as 
a  memorandum  of  all  his  transactions  (which  is,  I  believe, 
the  true  light  in  which  it  should  be  viewed),  it  is  a  good 
and  well-detailed  one,  as  is  evidenced  by  its  having  been 
feasible  to  prepare  a  correct  balanced  account  from  it. 

41.  Besides  his  day-book,  Nujjuf  Alice  also  kept  up 
nominal  pay  distribution  rolls,  written  in  his  own  hand 
with  a  steel  pen :  these  have  been,  at  the  expense  of  some 
time  and  difficulty,  compared  with  the  scattered  entries 
in  the  day-book  and  found  to  correspond  throughout. 
In  fact,  I  found  no  room  for  continuing  a  suspicion  of  the 
correctness  of  Nujjuf  Alice's  book,  and  it  appears  that 


280  Major  W.  Hodson 

when  it  suited  him  he  himself  appealed  to  it  as  un- 
challengeable; and  further,  its  genuineness  as  a  record 
is  greatly  established  by  the  transcript  made  by  Moonshee 
Bachee  Lall,  which  was  concluded  before  the  period  when 
Nujjuf  Alice  got  into  disgrace,  of  which  fact  Lieutenant 
Godby  and  myself  have  taken  copious  evidence. 

42.  On  the  seventh  point  has  chiefly  hinged  the  opinion 
at  one  time  prevalent,  that  Lieutenant  Hodson  was  a 
defaulter  in  account.  It  was  known,  in  the  first  instance, 
that  Lieutenant  Lumsden  had  never  made  use  of  his 
command  allowance,  and  therefore  that  the  accumula- 
tions of  it,  amounting  to  a  considerable  sum,  ought  to  be 
in  the  chest.  Lieutenant  Hodson  had  also  received 
clothing  compensation  from  the  Government  for  the  years 
1852-53  and  1853-54,  which  would  amount  to  Company's 
Rs.  4000,  and  yet  from  the  appearance  of  things  there 
was  small  hope  of  the  assets  of  the  chest  being  sufficient 
to  meet  these  demands;  the  actual  cash  balance  was 
very  small,  the  outstanding  assets  were  unknown,  and 
Lieutenant  Hodson  when  naturally  called  upon  to  explain 
the  state  of  things,  conscious  of  the  fact  I  have  before 
stated,  of  his  having  no  clearly  defined  knowledge  of  the 
nature  of  the  balance  he  had  received,  could  only  reiterate 
the  conviction,  which  he  had  always  had,  that  all  was 
correct  and  capable  of  eventual  demonstration  to  be  so; 
but  with  regard  to  the  account  prior  to  his  command, 
that  he  should  not  say  positively  what  sums  there  were 
available  in  the  chest  on  this  or  that  head  until  all  had 
been  sifted  and  examined  from  first  to  last.  I  confess  I 
do  not  wonder  at  the  fact  of  a  tribunal  of  officers  used  to 
regular  regimental  accounts  not  being  as  sanguine  as 
Lieutenant  Hodson  was  about  the  ultimate  solvency  of 
the  regimental  chest;  but  the  excuse  I  should  be  inclined 
to  put  forward  for  Lieutenant  Hodson  is,  that  under  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  the  account  could  not  be 
viewed  as  a  mere  regimental  one.  Large  sums  had  been 
advanced  from  the  chest  for  a  public  work,  and  other 
difficulties  had  occurred  so  completely  out  of  common 
course  that  common  rules  could  scarcely  be  applied  to 
them. 

43.  I  have  before  noticed  the  open  statement  of  re- 


Appendix  A  281 

coverable  assets  and  liabilities  made  over  by  Lieutenant 
Turner  to  Lieutenant  Hodson  on  the  loth  of  March  1853: 
this  did  not  profess  to  be  an  infallible  sketch  of  the  state 
of  things,  but  an  approximation;  the  result,  however, 
has  been  that  items  to  the  amount  of  1001  rupees,  un- 
noticed in  Lieutenant  Turner's  memorandum,  were 
collected,  while  sums,  amounting  in  all  to  Company's 
Rs.  2071,  were  disbursed  in  excess  of  what  Lieutenant 
Turner  had  believed  to  be  due.  Thus  at  the  time  of  the 
sitting  of  the  court  any  claims  on  Lieutenant  Hodson, 
based  on  the  supposed  balance  made  over  to  him  when 
he  took  up  the  management  of  the  chest,  would  have 
been  liable  to  considerable  diminution;  but  when  ques- 
tioned by  the  court,  Lieutenant  Hodson  had  only  a  general 
idea  that  something  of  the  above  nature  had  occurred. 
He  was,  however,  conscious  that  he  had  made  no  direct 
disbursements  from  the  various  funds  for  which  he  was 
considered  liable;  and  under  these  circumstances  I  can 
easily  conceive  that  his  replies  appeared  uncertain  and 
unsatisfactory — a  confidence  expressed  with  apparently 
no  demonstrable  ground  to  support  it. 

44.  The  eighth  point  is  the  one  I  have  alluded  to  as  not 
admitting  of  perfectly  satisfactory  explanation.     Claims 
on  the  chest  appear  to  have  been  numerous,  and  though 
many  of  them  were  unimportant,  and  many  others  not 
claims  at  all,  it  is  impossible  to  resist  the  impression  that 
Lieutenant  Hodson  was  in  the  habit  of  keeping  men  who 
had  claims  on  the  chest  waiting  a  long  time  without 
examining  their  cases  and  clearing  accounts  with  them. 
It  is  the  prevailing  impression  which  I  cannot  resist;  for 
I  cannot  think  the  idea  fully  borne  out  by  an  examination 
of  the  cases  contained  in  your  letter,  No.  188,  of  the  yth 
of  December,  to  the  address  of  the  major-general  com- 
manding the  Peshawar  Division,  and  those  mentioned 
before  the  court  of  inquiry.     I  have  read  through  the 
whole  of  these  cases,  and  wish  to  notice  particularly  the 
following  heads: — 

45.  Out  of  (64)  sixty-four  cases  in  all  that  were  brought 
to  the  notice  of  the  court,  I  find  that  seven  were  claims  for 
balances  of  half-mounting  deductions;   thirteen  were  on 
account  of  sums  due  either  to  individuals  or  Government, 


282  Major  W.  Hodson 

as  estates  of  deceased  or  deserted  men;  thirteen  were 
cases  of  fines,  civil  and  military ;  six  of  pay  forfeited  and 
due  to  Government;  and,  lastly,  only  nine  were  claims  by 
individuals  for  arrears  of  current  pay  or  deductions  there- 
from, which  is  the  point  to  which  I  wish  particularly  to 
draw  attention. 

46.  The  cases  of  half-mounting  balances  were  peculiar. 
Lieutenant  Hodson  stated  before  the  court  that,  with  one 
exception,  the  claimants  had  never  made  application  to 
him  for  the  money,  and  further,  as  the  reason  of  this, 
that  it  had  not  been  the  custom  to  pay  anything  to  the 
Pathans  of  the  neighbouring  districts  or  belonging  to 
countries  beyond  our  border,  on  account  of  previous 
deductions  for  half -mounting.    I  do  not  wish  to  leave 
the  subject  unnoticed,  but  I  must  allow  that  I  have  not 
carefully  examined  this  point.     I  have,  however,  held 
conversations  with  Major  Lumsden,  Lieutenant  Godby, 
and  the  pay  jemadar  on  the  subject,  and  the  result  is  a 
belief  that,  as  a  rule,  all  classes  were  considered  entitled 
to  these  balances,  but  that  they  were  not  unfrequently 
withheld  if  a  man's  character  was  bad,  or  if  he  had 
injured  his  arms,  or  asked  for  his  discharge  improperly. 

47.  With  regard  to  estates,  the  system  that  had  always 
prevailed  in  the  regiment  was  that  any  sums  accruing  on 
such  accounts  were  paid  into  the  chest  in  ordinary  course 
of  account,  and  only  paid  out  again  on  a  clearly  estab- 
lished claim  by  an  heir;  while  all  unclaimed  sums,  though 
considered  to  be  entirely  the  property  of  Government, 
remained  in  the  undefined  balance  of  the  chest.    This, 
in  fact,  had  been  the  mode  in  which  all  money  due  to 
Government  had  been  treated  in  the  regiment  from  the 
first,  and  it  would  have  been  right  to  have  mentioned  this 
when  these  cases,  and  those  of  forfeited  pay,  were  brought 
to  the  notice  of  the  Court. 

48.  Of  the  fine  cases  five  were  civil,  inflicted  in  due 
course;    three  had  never  been  inflicted;    and  five  were 
military,  and  had  been  realised — two  from  bazaar-men 
and  three  from  soldiers,  if  I  remember  right,  from  sowars 
who  had  brought  their  horses  back  from  furlough  in  bad 
condition.     At  present,  if  this  happens,  a  man  is  put  on 
dismounted  pay,  which  is  much  the  same  thing. 


Appendix  A  283 

49.  With  regard  to  the  whole  number  of  cases  mentioned, 
I  may  say  that  where  Lieutenant  Hodson's  statements  in 
reply  refer  to  the  accounts,  they  are  borne  out  by  the  facts. 
Of  scenes  and  events  I  have  no  knowledge. 

50.  But  my  particular  business  is  with  nine  cases  of 
claims,  or  asserted  claims,  for  arrears  of  current  pay  or 
excess  deductions  therefrom.   Of  these,  four  were  incorrect, 
and  not  eventually  allowed ;  two  were  for  sums  retrenched 
in  the  pay  office;  one  case  had  been  adjusted  previously; 
in  another  the  money  was  in  deposit  in  the  hands  of  a 
native  officer;  and  the  ninth  was  due,  and  had  to  be  paid, 
but  the  claimant  failed  to  prove  that  he  had  applied  to 
Lieutenant  Hodson  for  the  money. 

51.  It  must  be  remembered,  at  the  same  time,  that 
Lieutenant  Godby,  who  had,  I  believe,  been  called  upon 
to  ascertain  all  claims  that  existed  against  Lieutenant 
Hodson  with  the  regiment,  gave  public  notice  that  all 
who  had  them  to  make  must  speak  then  or  be  silent 
afterwards.    It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  every  one  who 
thought  he  had  a  chance  of  gaining  by  coming  forward 
did  so ;  and  it  is  a  very  important  point  in  the  case,  that 
it  should  be  seen  that  there  were  no  real  complaints  to 
be  made  on  the  score  of  pay. 

52.  With  reference  to  this  I  must  mention  that  Lieu- 
tenant Hodson  had,  under  circumstances  of  really  great 
difficulty,  paid  up  the  whole  regiment  to  the  end  of 
October  1854,  and  cleared  accounts  with  every  man  in 
it  for  all  the  advances  that  each  had  received  while  audit 
was  pending.     In  doing  this,  the  following  anomalous 
occurrence  (when  judged  by  ordinary  rules)  took  place — 
namely,  that  he  paid  the  regiment  for  the  three  months 
of  May,  June,  and  August  with  August's  pay  and  half 
June's,  aided  by  a  large  sum  received  as  reaudits  on 
former  abstracts,  and  completed  by  a  sum  advanced 
from  the  chest. 

53.  I  must  put  this  in  figures,  for  it  will  be  hardly 
comprehensible  or  credible  without  them. 

54.  I  must  first  mention  that  the  deputy  paymaster  in 
several  instances  refunded  the  whole  or  a  part  of  an 
abstract  into  the  Peshawar  treasury  on  account  of  previous 
advances  received  for  the  corps,  merely  transmitting  to 


284  Major  W.  Hodson 

the  commanding  officer  the  statement  and  retrenchment 
paper,  by  which  he  learned  that  whereas,  in  some  former 
month,  he  had  obtained  a  loan  of  Company's  Rs.  17,000 
from  the  civil  treasury  on  his  own  idea  of  what  was  due 
to  the  regiment,  only  Company's  Rs.  15,000  had  eventually 
been  passed,  and  the  balance  had  either  to  be  recovered 
in  arrears  from  the  men  or  from  the  military  auditor- 
general  after  correspondence  and  representation,  while 
the  abstracts  passed  for  the  current  pay  of  the  regiment 
were  being  refunded  by  the  paymaster  direct  into  the 
civil  treasury  in  lieu  of  these  former  advances. 

55.  Received  by  the  Guide  chest: — 

On  the  igth  June  the  audited  This  whole  amount  paid  into 

pay  abstract  for  May  1854  was  the  Peshawar  treasury  direct  by 

received.  Total  passed  after  re-  the  deputy  paymaster  on  account 

trenchments,  Rs.  15,637.  of  former  advances. 

On  the  25th  of  July  the  Of  this  Company's  Rs.  7849. 

audited  pay  'abstract  for  June  12.1.  paid  direct  by  the  deputy 

was  received.  Total  passed  after  paymaster  into  the  Peshawar 

retrenchments,  Rs.  15,570.11.11.  treasury. 

Balance  available  on  the  two  months'  abstract,  Rs.  7720.15.10. 

56.  The  above  refunds  were  not  to  cover  advances  for 
the  months  for  which  the  abstracts  were  passed,  but  on 
account  of  transactions  of  a  long  prior  date.    The  audited 
abstract  for  April  1854,  amounting  to  Company's  rupees 
20,613.15.10,  had  been  in  the  same  way  paid  direct  into 
the  Peshawar  treasury  in  lieu  of  advances  of  the  former 
year;   and  the  regiment  being  left  entirely  without  pay, 
Lieutenant  Hodson  was  obliged  to  get  an  advance  of  that 
sum  again  from  the  treasury,  and  it  was  to  repay  this 
advance  for  April,  and  an  outstanding  balance  of  former 
advances,  that  the  above  two  sums  were  refunded  direct 
into  the  Peshawar  treasury  from  the  pay  of  the  regiment 
for  May  and  June,  leaving  Lieutenant  Hodson  half  a 
month's  pay  with  which  to  pay  the  regiment  for  the  two 
months  named. 

To  continue. 

57.  On  the  22nd  of  August  the  audited  pay  abstract  for 
July  was  received.    Total  passed  after  retrenchments, 
Company's   rupees    17,582.5.10,   and   the   money   being 
received  in  full,  was  disbursed  to  the  regiment — May  and 
June  still  remaining  unadjusted. 


Appendix  A  285 

On  the  22nd  of  September  audited 

abstract   for   August   received   in 

full Rs.  17,285    8     3 

Also  sums  allowed  in  reaudit  to  the 

amount  of  ....          13,028  13     7 


Rs.  30,314    5  I0 

58.  These  reaudits  were  the  property  of  the  chest, 
having  been  recovered  after  correspondence  on  account  of 
sums  which  had  been  paid  from  the  chest,  but  audit  with- 
held for  a  time,  while  the  whole  of  Lieutenant  Hodson's 
debt  to  the  Peshawar  civil  treasury  had  been  refunded 
indiscriminately  from  his  passed  abstracts. 

59.  This  sum,  therefore,  was  available  to  make  good 
the  deficiency  in  the  months  of  May  and  June,  from 
the  abstracts  of  which  only  the  balance  before  mentioned 
remained  available — namely,  Company's 

rupees 7,720  I5  Ic> 

Add  August's  pay  and  amount  re- 
ceived in  reaudits  with  it      .         .          3°33i4     5  i° 

Total  by  abstracts  .         .         .  Rs.  38,035     5    8 

Add    amount    advanced    from    the 

regimental  chest  .         .         .  8,380    o     3 


Total  amount  required  to  pay  the 
regiment  for  May,  June,  and 
August  .....  Rs.  46,415  5  ii 

60.  This  above  loan  from  the  chest  was  chiefly  com- 
posed of  the  pay  of  the  European  officers,  and  the  whole 
was  subsequently  refunded  by  repayments  on  the  fort 
account.  Lieutenant  Hodson  had  advanced  about  (Com- 
pany's rupees  11,000)  Company's  rupees  eleven  thousand 
in  all  to  the  fort  works,  and  eventually  repaid  it  on  receipt 
of  assignments  from  the  chief  engineer;  but  a  portion  of 
the  above  sum,  due  as  officer's  pay,  having  been  suddenly 
called  for,  he  was  obliged  to  obtain  a  loan  from  the  banker 
of  Major  Chamberlain's  corps  for  the  immediate  want, — 
a  slight  complication,  which  led  to  misconstruction  in  two- 
instances. 


286  Major  W.  Hodson 

61.  The  Company's  rupees  46,415.5.11  was  disbursed 
as  follows: — 

Pay  of  the  cavalry  for  May,  June,  and 

August       .....  Rs.  24,713  5  8 

Ditto,        infantry  ditto,  .          15,900  9  6 

European  officers  and  establishments l        5,801  6  9 


Total      Rs.  46,415     5  ii 

1  European  officers,  Lieutenants  Hardinge  and 

Hodson       ......  Rs.  2125  i  o 

Doctor  Dalzel    ......  141  12  6 

Establishments           .          .          .          .          .  574  8  o 

Arrears  to  furlough  men     ....  2960  i  3 

Total     .          .      Rs.  5801     6     9 

On  the  2ist  of  October  audited  abstracts  for  September 
were  received  in  full  and  disbursed  to  the  regiment.  On 
the  1 8th  of  November  those  for  October  were  received 
and  disbursed. 

62.  I  would  draw  attention  to  the  dates  on  which  these 
abstracts  were  received  and  audited  in  all  the  months  I 
have  mentioned,  as  they  are  good  evidences  that  the 
monthly  papers  were  made  out  and  sent  off  regularly  and 
without  delay.     During  my  command  I  have  had  difficulty 
in  ensuring  the  receipt  of  pay  in  time  to  complete  the 
disbursement  of  one  month  before  the  close  of  the  follow- 
ing one. 

63.  Thus  by  the  expedient  above  described,  and  by 
keeping  the  men  alive  with  petty  advances,  Lieutenant 
Hodson  avoided  the  necessity  of  again  applying  for  an 
advance  from  the  civil  treasury,  which  system,  unavoid- 
able under  the  circumstances,  had  caused  such  confusion 
and  difficulty  in  his  accounts ;  and  on  the  disbursement  of 
October's  pay  (which  took  place  on  the  last  days  of 
November  and  the  beginning  of  December)  the  whole  pay 
accounts  of  the  regiment  had  been  put  on  a  sound  foot- 
ing.   The  advances  previously  made  as  subsistence  to  the 
men  had  been  recovered  (a  necessity  which  fell  heavy  on 
many  that  had  forestalled  their  pay  by  advances  begged 
from  the  chest),  and  the  long  outstanding  difficulties  con- 
nected with  the  pay  of  the  regiment  had  been  overcome. 


Appendix  A  287 

64.  It  was  almost  immediately  after  this  that  a  court 
was  assembled  to  inquire  into  Lieutenant  Hodson's  con- 
duct in  the  matter  of  Feroze  Khan's  horse,  and  he  never 
rejoined  his  appointment;  but  he  left  the  regiment  paid 
up  to  date,  and  all  the  long  pending  accounts  of  the  men 
squared,  and  though  complaints  were,  as  I  have  before 
shown,  invited,  no  valid  ones  were  made  on  the  score  of 
current  pay  or  excess  deductions. 

65.  With  regard,  then,  to  the  outstanding  claims  against 
the  chest  which  Lieutenant  Hodson  had  failed  to  examine 
and  clear  off,  it  is,  I  think,  a  fair  presumption  that  as  he 
had  with  careful  endeavour  surmounted  his  chief  difficulty, 
he  would  eventually  have  adjusted  all  minor  matters  as 
well;  and  further,  that  as  there  were,  as  you  will  see  by 
the  balance-sheet,  as  many  and  as  large  sums  due  to  the 
chest  as  claimable  from  it  when  Lieutenant  Hodson's 
conduct  became  the  subject  of  inquiry,  placing  the  credits 
and  debits  of  this  nature  in  juxtaposition  considerably 
softens  the  unfavourable  aspect  of  the  eighth  point  under 
notice. 

66.  I  enclose  the  following  papers,  which  will,  I  hope, 
fully  explain  the  nature  of  the  account  and  the  mode  of 
its  final  adjustment: — 

(1)  General  summary  of  receipts  and  disbursements 

from  the  loth  of  March  1853  to  3ist  December 
1854. 

(2)  General  balanced  ledger  of  the  above  period. 

(3)  Statement  of  balance. 

(4)  Detail  of  ditto  as  far  as  known. 

67.  Such  is  the  account.     I  may  briefly  sum  up  my 
opinion  by  saying  that  I  believe  it  to  be  an  honest  and 
correct  record  from  beginning  to  end.     It  has  been  irregu- 
larly kept,  but  every  transaction,  from  the  least  to  the 
greatest,  has  been  noted  in  it,  and  is  traceable  to  the 
individuals  concerned;   for  it  must  be  remembered  that 
while  we  have  been  sitting  in  committee  on  the  accounts 
at  Murdan,  nearly  every  man  mentioned  in  the  trans- 
actions of  the  chest  has  been  present  with  the  regiment, 
and  throughout  the  inquiry   I  have  found  Lieutenant 
Hodson's  statements  borne  out  by  the  facts  of  the  case, 
while  in  some  instances  where  doubts  had  been  engendered 


288  Major  W.  Hodson 

by  a  want  of  knowledge  of  details,  they  were  removed  by 
working  through  the  minutiae  of  the  account.  At  the 
same  time,  though  the  account  was  faithfully  kept,  it 
was  not  systematically  checked;  and  you  will  see  that 
several  considerable  mistakes  and  miscreditings  remain 
to  be  corrected.  Both  Lieutenant  Hodson  and  Dr.  Lyell 
have  received  over-credits  in  their  private  accounts  which 
they  have  to  make  good,  and  two  sums  are  found  to  be 
due  to  Major  Lumsden  and  Lieutenant  Miller;  an  item 
of  error  in  account  is  due  by  Moonshee  Nujjuf  Alice,  and 
several  smaller  sums  due  from  Government  on  account 
of  pay  can  only  be  recovered  by  special  audit. 

68.  These  are  the  skimmings  of  an  irregular  unchecked 
account  of  two  years'  standing.     They  argue  want  of 
system,  and  are  only  explicable  on  the  grounds  that 
inquiry  broke  in  while  adjustment  was  in  progress;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  I  do  not  for  a  moment  regard  them 
as  suspicious,  nor  would  the  members  of  a  court  of  inquiry 
view  them  as  such,  should  one  eventually  be  ordered  for 
the  examination  of  the  accounts,  when  the  adoption  or 
amendment  of  this  statement  would  probably  form  the 
basis  of  their  report. 

69.  The  explanation  is,  as  I  have  before  shown,  that 
Lieutenant  Hodson  had  only  just  emerged  from  his  chief 
difficulty — namely,  the  confused  state  of  the  current  pay 
of  the  regiment — when  he   became  involved   in  other 
troubles    which    prevented   his   applying   himself   to   a 
thorough  balancing  of  the  whole  account,  and  without 
that  no  clearance  could  be  effected.     But  this  task  would 
have  required  even  from  him  a  large  portion  of  the  labour 
and  application  which  was  eventually  found  necessary 
for  it,  though  of  course  he  (Lieutenant  Hodson)  could 
have  taken  large  divisions  of  the  account  for  granted  as 
correct  which  we  have  been  obliged  to  work  through  step 
by  step;  and  I  do  not  think  it  extraordinary  that,  engaged 
as  he  was  in  other  duties,  he  did  not  manage  to  find  time 
for  this. 

70.  A  natural  course  would  have  been  for  Lieutenant 
Hodson  to  have  made  more  use  than  he  appears  to  have 
done  of  his  natural  assistants — namely,  his  subordinate 
officers;  and  I  can  answer  for  one  who  has  been  present 


Appendix  A  289 

with  the  regiment  during  the  period  of  my  command, 
having  had  every  qualification  to  render  him  an  efficient 
assistant;  but  with  regard  to  this  it  is  fair  to  mention 
that  in  the  latter  part  of  1854  he  was  a  good  deal  alone, 
Lieutenant  Godby  being  on  leave  for  several  months  in 
the  autumn,  and  Lieutenant  Turner  having  been  attached, 
from  July  of  that  year  I  believe,  to  another  corps. 

71.  Lieutenant  Hodson  had  civil  and  political  charge  of 
Eusufzye,  and  had  further  the  building  of  a  large  fort  to 
superintend,  and  the  two  duties  were  calculated  in  a  great 
measure  to  distract  his  attention  from  regimental  matters ; 
still  I  have  shown  that  he  certainly  did  not  neglect  them, 
and  that  the  state  of  the  regiment,  as  regarded  the  most 
important  item  of  pay,  was  healthy,  and  supported  by 
regular  distribution  rolls,  etc.,  while  the  collateral  accounts 
of  Chunda  and  clothing  were  fully  kept,  and  had  been  the 
subject  of  care  and  labour.     The  accounts  of  the  regiment 
were  made  over  to  Moonshee  Goordeal  in  April  1854, 
and  from  that  time  the  vernacular  cash-book  was  kept 
accurately  and  clearly.     A  regular  Chunda  account,  con- 
taining every  necessary  detail,  had  been  k?pt  up  from 
July  1853.     From  April  1854  regular  distribution  rolls, 
containing  full  details  of  all  deductions  and  the  balance 
paid  to  each  individual,  were  regularly  kept;    also  ver- 
nacular copies  of  the  pay  abstracts  with  details  of  re- 
trenchments and  deductions  in  the  pay  office;    also  a 
separate    debtor   and    creditor   account,   showing   each 
soldier's  transactions  with  the  chest,  and  the  sum  deducted 
from  him  on  account  of  clothing,  accoutrements,  etc. 
All  these  books  have  come  greatly  into  employment  in 
making  out  the  account.     A  monthly  balancing  of  the 
transaction  of  the  cash-book  would  have  kept  all  clear. 

72.  I  should  mention  that  where  I  have  alluded  to  what 
occurred  before  the  court  of  inquiry,  I  have  drawn  my 
information  from  Lieutenant  Hodson's  transcript  of  the 
proceedings,  which,  I  believe,  he  wrote  down  from  the 
dictation  of  the  deputy  judge  advocate-general.    Any 
allusion  of  mine  that  appears  incorrect  can  be  immediately 
set  right  by  reference  to  the  original  papers. 

73.  This  statement  has  run  to  a  great  length;  a  short 
one  would  scarcely  have  matched  the  rest  of  the  pro- 

T 


290  Major  W.  Hodson 

ceedings  in  the  case.  I  am  aware  that  I  have  in  one 
instance  noticed  a  matter  (that  of  the  horse  purchased 
from  Feroze  Khan)  which  must  have  been  fully  examined 
and  reported  on  by  the  court  of  inquiry.  As  the  case, 
however,  involved  four  entries  in  the  books,  the  credibility 
of  which  it  was  the  main  part  of  my  duty  to  ascertain  and 
report  upon,  I  do  not  think  that  there  can  be  impropriety 
in  my  noticing  it :  I  am  quite  unaware  of  the  opinion  given 
by  the  court  on  the  subject,  and  therefore  I  cannot  be 
supposed  to  be  anxious  to  oppose  or  amend  it.  I  merely 
give  my  own  opinion  on  what  has  come  under  my  notice, 
and  if  I  have  entered  into  more  details  than  was  actually 
necessary,  I  am  sure  that  the  fact  of  Lieutenant  Hodson's 
honesty  and  honour  having  been  assailed  with  regard  to 
this  regimental  account,  and  my  examination  of  the  case 
having  convinced  me  that  there  was  nothing  whatever  in 
the  accounts  to  afford  grounds  for  the  imputation,  and, 
moreover,  that  he  had  had  most  unusual  difficulties  to 
contend  with,  will  sufficiently  account  for  my  doing  my 
best  to  show  that  I  have  demonstrable  grounds  for  the 
opinion  I  have  formed. 

74.  Lieutenant  Godby,  who  assisted  me  throughout  the 
laborious  examination  of  the  accounts  with  a  wish  to 
understand  them  himself  and  do  Lieutenant  Hodson  every 
justice,  appends  a  certificate  to  this  statement  to  the 
effect  that  he  is  perfectly  satisfied  with  regard  to  the 
correctness  of  the  whole  account. — I  have  the  honour  to 
be,  sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

REYNELL  G.  TAYLOR,  Major, 

Late  Commandant  Guide  Corps. 

True  copy.  REYNELL  G.  TAYLOR,  Major, 

Deputy  Commissioner. 


Appendix  A  291 


From  Major  Reynell  G.  Taylor,  late  officiating  Commandant 
Guide  Corps,  to  Major  H.  B.  Lumsden,  Commandant 
Guide  Corps.  Dated  Jhelum,  i^th  February  1856. 

SIR, — In  your  demi-official  letter  of  the  3ist  ultimo  to 
my  address,  you  say  that  from  your  recollection  of  my 
report  on  Lieutenant  Hodson's  accounts,  which  I  have 
read  to  you  at  Peshawar,  you  think  that  the  tenor  of  it 
will  convey  the  impression  that  you  had  made  over  the 
accounts  of  the  regiment  to  Lieutenant  Hodson  in  such  a 
state  that  all  his  subsequent  difficulties  were  the  natural 
result  of  it. 

2.  I  take,  therefore,  this  opportunity  of  saying  distinctly 
that  it  is  very  far  from  my  intention  to  convey  the  idea 
that  you  unfairly  bequeathed  labour  and  difficulty  to  your 
successor. 

3.  It  is,  indeed,  very  clearly  my  opinion  that  one  of  the 
chief  causes  of  the  difficulties  which  subsequently  occurred 
was  the  undefined  balance  of  the  chest,  which  not  having 
been  clearly  ascertained  and  set  aside  at  first  by  Lieutenant 
Hodson,  vitiated  the  whole  of  the  subsequent  accounts; 
but  this  view  of  the  case  does  not  affect  you:   the  diffi- 
culties you  had  had  to  contend  with  were  great  and  well 
known,  and  on  leaving  you  left  large  balances,  both  public 
and  private,  in  the  chest,  while  you  believe  that  all  was 
then  intelligible  if  Lieutenant  Hodson  had  taken  pains  to 
master  the  difficulty  at  once. 

4.  This  he  certainly  did  not  do,  as  I  have  described  in 
my  report;    and  though  you  may  be  correct  in  your 
memory  and  belief,  you  must  not  quarrel  with  me  if,  as 
I  have  in  the  course  of  this  inquiry  encountered  a  good 
deal  of  inadequate  appreciation  of  the  difficulty  of  work- 
ing up  arrears  of  long-unchecked  accounts,  I  still  retain 
an  opinion  that  the  task  of  clear  and  rapid  comprehension 
might  have  proved  more  difficult  than  you  suppose. 

5.  But  all  that  I  wish  to  point  out  is,  that  the  task  of 
detailing  the  large  balance  of  the  chest  was  never  accom- 
plished.   I  have  conversed  with  all  the  officers  concerned, 
and  none  of  them  wished,  or  pretended  to  say,  that  it 
had  been;  still  this  would  not  have  so  much  signified  if 


292  Major  W.  Hodson 

Lieutenant  Hodson  had  made  strenuous  efforts  at  once, 
on  taking  charge,  to  ascertain  the  exact  amount  of  this 
balance,  and  had  set  it  aside  as  a  distinct  item  due  by 
him.  This  he  did  not  do,  seeing  no  urgent  necessity  for 
it,  and  the  money  came  and  went  as  it  was  paid  in  or 
properly  called  for;  and  in  the  end  he  positively  did  not 
know  the  real  sum  he  was  liable  for.  It  is  not  my  intention 
to  defend  this,  though  perhaps  carried  away  by  my  subject, 
and  thinking  of  the  far  worse  things  that  were  laid  to  his 
charge,  I  have  written  warmly  in  my  report  as  if  there 
was  nothing  to  be  quarrelled  with.  I  only  contend  that 
all  was  natural  and  explicable,  and  in  a  great  measure 
brought  on  by  circumstances. 

6.  There  are  many  things,  I  am  aware,  that  appear  in 
Lieutenant  Hodson's  final  balance-sheet  which  are  utterly 
indefensible  as  matters  of  regular  regimental  account,  and 
1  have  not  wished  to  defend  them.    At  the  same  time,  I 
do  not  think  it  would  be  right  or  generous  to  condemn 
him  for  them  under  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  con- 
sidering the  efforts  he  had  made  to  clear  the  pay  accounts, 
and  the  way  in  which  he  was  brought  to  a  sudden  stop, 
after  which  the  adjustment  of  any  items  would  have  been 
improper  and  suspicious.    The  fact  of  mistakes  being 
worked  out  in  an  account  by  labour  and  careful  examina- 
tion is  satisfactory  proof  of  the  honesty  of  the  record, 
though  sad  evidence  of  its  not  having  been  carefully 
checked. 

7.  In  forwarding  the  papers  to  the  military  secretary 
to  the  Chief  Commissioner,  I  have  noted  all  the  items 
which  are,  I  consider,  irrecoverable  or  doubtful:    they 
include  those  you  allude  to.    The  amount  under  both 
heads,  however,  will  not  exceed  250  rupees,  and  the 
bulk    of    the    balance    ought    to    be    realised    without 
difficulty. 

8.  Now  I  am  going  to  say  what  you  must  know  full 
well — namely,  that  the  task  that  has  employed  me  more 
or  less  during  the  whole  time  that  I  have  been  with  the 
regiment  has  been  a  most  uncomfortable  one,  as  it  has 
placed   me  to   a  certain  extent  in  the   position  of  a 
scrutiniser,  and  in  a  slight  measure  condemner,  of  the 
acts  of  men  whose  services  to  Government  have  been 


Appendix  A  293 

greater  than  my  own.  I  hope  I  need  not  say  that  the 
duty  would  never  have  been  entered  into  as  fully  as  it 
has  but  for  the  hope  of  assisting  a  man  whose  case  had 
been  submitted  to  me,  and  whom  I  believe  to  be  to  a 
great  extent  a  victim  of  circumstances,  while  I  considered 
his  honour  clear  in  all  that  came  under  my  notice. 

9.  The  whole  papers  in  Lieutenant  Hodson's  case  go 
in  to-day,  and  a  copy  of  this  letter  accompanies  them. 
— I  have  the  honour  to  be,  sir,  your  most  obedient 
servant, 

REYNELL  G.  TAYLOR,  Major, 
late  officiating  Commandant  Guide  Corps  ^ 

True  copy. 

REYNELL  G.  TAYLOR,  Major, 
Deputy  Commissioner. 


APPENDIX  B 

THE  following  correspondence  seems  to  indicate  the  un- 
kindly spirit  in  which  Major  H.  Edwardes,  the  Com- 
missioner of  Peshawar,  took  up  the  case  of  Khadir  Khan 
against  his  alleged  oppressor.  It  is  evident  from  Hodson's 
answers  to  the  questions  put  by  Captain  Cripps  that  the 
Pathan  chief  of  Turu  was  not  the  sort  of  man  whose  word 
could  be  trusted  in  any  dispute  with  an  English  officer. 

No.  67. 

From  Captain  J.  M.  Cripps,  A.C.,  to  Li.  Hodson,  late  in 
civil  charge  of  Yusafzai.  Dated  Mardan,  2nd  August 
1855. 

SIR, — Being  at  present  engaged  in  investigating  the 
claims  of  Khadir  Khan  of  Turu  to  compensation  for  losses 
sustained  by  him  to  the  extent  of  C.  Rs.  15,151.7.3  (ex- 
clusive of  some  bonds  for  large  sums  of  money)  whilst  in 
confinement  at  Peshawar,  I  have  to  request  the  favour 
of  being  furnished  with  information  on  the  following 
points : — 

ist,  At  the  time  of  confiscation  of  the  Khan's  property 
was  any  person  placed  in  charge  of  his  dwelling-house  at 
Turu  and  the  property  contained  within  it;  also,  if  a  list 
of  such  property  was  prepared? 

2nd,  If  any  property  was  taken  out  of  the  small  house 
situated  within  the  enclosure  around  the  Khan's  estate, 
the  door  of  which  was  nailed  up  ? 

3rd,  If  the  attachment  of  the  property  took  place  in 
presence  of  any  of  the  friends  or  relations  of  the  Khan, 
and  if  so,  who  were  they? 

4th,  If  the  cash  taken  from  the  house  of  Shaikh  Mian 
was  counted  in  your  presence;  and  was  the  Shaikh  present 
at  such  time? 

5th,  Were  any  camels  of  the  Khan's  employed  in  con- 
294 


Appendix  B  295 

veying  materials  to  the  Fort,  and  if  so,  how  many  and  at 
what  rate  of  hire  ? 

2nd,  A  few  days  subsequent  to  my  arrival  in  Yusafzai 
I  proceeded  to  Turu,  and  broke  open  the  door  of  the  small 
house  alluded  to  in  2nd  question.  The  only  property 
discovered  consisted  of  some  shawls  and  chogas  much 
damaged  by  damp;  but  in  one  corner  there  was  a  large 
chest  which  had  evidently  been  broken  open,  and  the 
Khan  states  that  in  that  chest  were  contained  his  most 
valuable  jewels,  none  of  which  are  forthcoming. 

3rd,  I  shall  be  obliged  for  any  information  you  can 
supply  regarding  the  proceedings  taken  at  the  time  of 
confiscation,  to  enable  me  to  arrive  at  some  decision 
regarding  the  justness  or  otherwise  of  the  Khan's  claims. 
— I  have  the  honour  to  be,  sir,  you  most  obedient  servant,. 

J.  M.  CRIPPS,  A.C. 

No.  106. 

To  Captain  Cripps,  Asst.  Commissioner,  Yusafzai. 
Dated  Mar  dan,  Sept.  4th,  1855. 

SIR, — I  regret  that  I  have  been  unable  to  reply  earlier 
to  your  letter,  No.  67,  dated  2nd  ulto. 

I  reply  to  your  questions  in  the  order  in  which  they 
occur. 

ist,  Khadir  Khan's  property  was  not  "  confiscated  "' 
on  his  arrest.  It  was  attached  by  my  orders,  with  a  view 
to  its  safety.  His  house,  cattle,  and  horses  were  left 
in  charge  of  his  own  family.  The  acting  thanadar  of 
Mardan,  Rahmat  Ali,  was  placed  with  4  barkandazes  at 
the  exterior  gateway  of  Khadir's  Khan's  house  to  prevent 
any  of  the  live  stock  or  horses  or  other  property  being 
taken  away.  As  far  as  I  recollect,  a  list  of  the  live  stock 
was  made  out.  This,  I  conclude,  will  be  among  the 
vernacular  file  of  papers  connected  with  the  proceedings. 

2ndly,  The  property  contained  in  the  chest  in  the  small 
house  alluded  to  in  your  2nd  question  and  2nd  paragraph 
was  opened  in  my  presence,  and  the  property  it  contained 
(consisting  of  ornaments,  a  few  jewels,  and  gold  and  silver 
trinkets)  taken  out  before  me.  The  whole  (together  with 


296  Major  W.  Hodson 

some  books  and  papers)  was  taken  by  me  to  camp  and 
placed  in  a  box  (secured  by  a  letter-lock  which  could  be 
opened  by  no  one  but  myself)  under  the  guard  at  my  tents. 
A  detailed  list  of  the  contents  was  made  out  in  my  presence 
and  carefully  compared  by  myself,  and  eventually  the 
whole  was  handed  over  by  me  personally  after  a  strict 
comparison  with  the  list.  This  list  is,  or  was,  on  the  file. 
Thus  I  am  in  a  position  to  state  with  confidence  that  the 
whole  property  so  recorded  was  produced  and  made  over. 
Wherefore,  supposing  that  the  property  detailed  in  the 
list  referred  to  was  restored  to  Khadir  Khan,  his  statement 
as  to  the  contents  of  the  chest  not  being  forthcoming 
must  be  entirely  false. 

3rdly,  The  Khan's  brother  and  son  and  several  of  his 
people  were  present  when  the  search  above  mentioned 
took  place,  and  when  the  property  was  removed.  The 
son  himself  handed  over  to  me  some  of  the  books  and 
papers. 

4thly,  The  cash  taken  from  the  house  of  Shaik  Mian 
was  not  counted  in  my  presence,  but  at  the  tahsil. 

5thly,  Some  camels  of  Khadir  Khan's  were  employed 
on  the  public  works.  They  were  fed,  the  sowars  employed 
on  them  were  paid  regular  wages,  and  pack-saddles,  etc., 
made  up  and  repaired  for  them.  All  such  sums  were  paid 
out  of  public  works  account  and  charged  in  my  bills.  At 
this  distance  of  time  I  cannot  state  numbers  or  rates  from 
memory.  The  female  and  young  camels  and  those  unfit 
for  work  were  left  with  the  family. 

2.  With  regard  to  your  last  par.,  I  shall  be  glad  to  give 
you  information  on  any  point  in  my  power.  The  attach- 
ment was  conducted  by  myself  personally  to  ensure  no 
injury  being  done  or  annoyance  given  to  the  women  of 
the  family.  There  was  scarcely  any  property  of  any  kind 
in  the  place  save  horses,  cattle,  and  corn,  none  of  which 
Tvere  removed,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  contents 
of  the  chest  already  alluded  to.  If  these  have  been  made 
over  to  the  Khan,  together  with  the  live  stock,  I  should 
unhesitatingly  say  that  he  can  have  suffered  no  loss  of 
any  property  which  was  visible  on  his  estate  at  the  time 
of  the  attachment. — I  have,  etc. 

W.  R.  H. 


APPENDIX  C 

IN  his  Recollections  of  a  Highland  Subaltern  (E.  Arnold, 
1898),  Lieut.-Colonel  W.  Gordon- Alexander  gives  the 
following  trustworthy  account  of  what  happened  just 
after  the  storming  of  the  Begam's  Palace : — 

"  As  I  turned  round  again  towards  the  breach,  I  noticed 
two  officers,  whom  I  took  to  be  on  the  staff,  clambering 
over  it,  and  when  they  reached  the  bottom  on  the  inside, 
proceed  arm-in-arm  to  skirt  the  wall  of  the  platform  on 
which  the  mosque  stood,  and,  merely  glancing  at  the 
firing  going  on  in  our  corner,  make  for  the  passage  or 
lane  which  led  to  their  right.  Believing  that  this  lane 
was  bordered  by  rooms  harbouring  desperate  fellows  in 
concealment,  similar  to  those  at  the  gateway  we  were 
then  dealing  with,  I  called  to  a  man  of  my  company 
below  to  run  towards  these  two  officers,  one  of  whom  I 
had  just  recognised  as  Hodson  of  Hodson's  Horse,  and 
warn  them  to  be  careful.  As  I  was  descending  the  ladder 
to  terra  firma  a  tremendous  explosion  made  me  pause  and 
turn  round,  to  witness  what  was  evidently  the  explosion 
of  the  large  mine  at  the  breach  where  the  right  wing  had 
entered.  .  .  . 

"  The  man  I  had  sent  across  the  court  to  warn  Hodson 
was  the  '  funny  man '  of  No.  6  company,  called  John 
Dougherty,  a  Glasgow  Irishman.  ...  As  there  was  no 
further  need  for  me  in  that  corner,  and  my  men  of  No. 
6  company  were  only  hanging  about  waiting  for  the 
sepoys  penned  into  the  gateway  (B  in  plan)  to  be  blown 
up,  I  called  out  to  them,  when  I  had  descended  the  ladder, 
to  follow  me,  and  doubled  across  the  courtyard  after 
Hodson  and  his  friend.  Dougherty,  unfortunately,  did 
not  catch  them  up,  and  before  they  had  gone  many  yards 
down  the  passage  (P  P  P)  which  ran  along  out  of  our 
square  at  the  back  of  the  mosque,  Hodson  turned  into 
the  first  doorway  he  came  to  on  his  right  (the  only  door- 
297 


298  Major  W.  Hodson 

way  on  that  side  of  the  passage),  which  opened  into  the 
foot  of  a  narrow  short  staircase  (marked  H  on  the  plan) 
leading  up  into  the  mosque  above.  Immediately  one 
or  two  shots  were  fired,  and  Hodson  staggered  back. 
Dougherty  never  stopped,  but  ran  in  to  the  door  and 
pinned  the  man  who  shot  Hodson  with  his  bayonet  before 
he  had  time  to  reload.1  There  was  only  one  other  sepoy 
in  the  doorway,  and  he  was  bayoneted  too;  and  when 
they  were  both  hauled  out  into  the  roadway  I  noticed 
the  stair,  up  which  two  more  of  my  men  mounted  step 
by  step,  prodding  with  their  bayonets  above  them  till 
they  ascertained  there  were  no  more  Pandies  in  hiding 
there. 

"  When  I  re-emerged  from  the  staircase,  Hodson  had 
been  borne  away,  and  his  friend,  who,  I  afterwards  heard, 
was  our  chief  engineer,  Brigadier  Robert  Napier,  had  also 
disappeared." 

1  Colonel  Malleson,  at  p.  271  of  his  fourth  volume,  thus  records 
Hodson's  death :  "  He  had  joined  the  storming-party,  had  entered 
the  breach  with  Robert  Napier,  and  had  been  separated  from  him 
in  the  melee.  He  was  not  wounded  during  the  storm;  but  after 
the  breach  had  been  gained,  he  rushed  forward  to  seek  for  sepoys  who 
might  be  concealed  in  the  dark  rooms  and  recesses  of  the  palace." 
I  must  here  draw  attention  to  the  facts,  which  I  can  personally 
vouch  for  and  have  recorded  in  the  text,  which  traverse  all  the 
statements  put  by  me  in  italics  in  the  above  quotation.  Major 
Hodson  did  not  join  our  storming-party,  and  could  not  have  found 
any  position  in  it  if  he  had;  he  was  in  no  melee,  but  walked  in  quietly 
arm-in-arm  with  his  friend,  Brigadier  Napier,  over  the  left  breach 
and  therefore  "  rushed  "  nowhere. 

As  Colonel  Malleson  has  recorded  in  his  History  his  own  opinion 
that  the  execution  by  Hodson  himself  of  the  "  princes  of  the  House 
of  Taimur  "  was  "  needless  slaughter,"  I  here  venture  to  assert 
that  he  would  not  have  found  two  men  amongst  the  magnificent 
heroes  of  the  Delhi  besieging  force,  not  three  among  Sir  Colin  Camp- 
bell's relief  and  siege  of  Lucknow  force  in  1857  and  1858,  who  would 
have  agreed  with  him. 

As  to  the  unsupported  assertion  by  the  author  of  The  Life  of  Lord 
Lawrence,  Professor  Bosworth  Smith,  that  Hodson  was  "  killed  in 
the  act  of  looting  in  a  house  in  Lucknow,"  Mr.  Smith  never  answered 
either  my  challenge,  published  in  the  St.  James's  Gazette  and  dated 
May  23,  1883,  nor  the  challenges  of  other  eye-witnesses  of  Hodson's 
death  which  appeared  in  other  London  newspapers,  including  the 
Daily  News,  about  the  same  time,  denying  the  base  accusation — 
challenges  which  certainly  called  for  the  production  of  the  evidence 
upon  which  such  a  charge  could  be  based  by  Mr.  Smith ;  or,  failing 
that,  for  an  ample  apology  for  having  ventured  to  make  such  a 
charge.  Mr.  Smith  ought  not  only  to  have  admitted  that  he  had 
been  misinformed,  but  to  have  apologised:  fcr  propagating  such  a 
slander.  He  did  neither. 


APPENDIX  D 

THE  following  verses  appeared  in  an  Indian  newspaper 
shortly  after  Hodson's  death.  They  have  since  been 
quoted  by  Mr.  David  Ross  in  his  Land  of  the  Five  Rivers 
and  Sindh.  They  are  supposed  to  represent  the  feelings 
of  an  old  Sikh  warrior,  Attar  Singh: — 

"  I  rode  to  Delhi  with  Hodson  :|  there  were  three  of  my  father's  sons ; 
Two  of  them  died  at  the  foot  of  the  Ridge,  in  the  line  of  the  Mori's 

guns. 
/  followed  him  on  when  the  great  town  fell;  he  was  cruel  and  cold, 

they  said: 
The  men  were  sobbing  around  me  the  day  that  I  saw  him  dead.  \ 

It  is  not  soft  words  that  a  soldier  wants;  we  know  what  he  was  in 

fight; 
And  we  love  the  man  that  can  lead  us,  ay,  though  his  face  be  white. 

And  when  the  time  shall  come,  sahib,  as  come  full  well  it  may, 
When  all  things  are  not  fair  and  bright,  as  all  things  seem  to-day, 
When  foes  are  rising  round  you  fast,  and  friends  are  few  and  cold , 
And  half  a  yard  of  trusty  steel  is  worth  a  prince's  gold, 
Remember  Hodson  trusted  us,  and  trust  the  old  blood  too, 
And  as  we  followed  him — to  death — our  sons  will  follow  you." 


300 


INDEX 


ABBOT,  Major  James,  58,  69,  101, 

H3 

Agnew,  Mr.  Vans,  49,  50 
Agra,  1 6,  98 
Alambagh,  241 
Aligarh,  222 
Alipur,  152,  153 
All  Reza  Khan,  180 
Aliwal,  24 

Amritsar,  71,  81,  85,  123 
Anderson,    Dr.,   204,   250,    253   et 

seq.,  258 

Anderson,  murdered  at  Multan,  49 
Anson,  General,   139  et  seq.,   143, 

148,  149,  216 
Arnold,  Dr.,  2,  6,  83 
Arnold,     Mr.    Thomas,     Passages 

from  a  Wandering  Life  quoted, 

Arnold,  Mr.  William  D.,  80,  81 
Attock,  70 

Babar  Khan,  183 

Baddi-Pind,  66  et  seq. 

Badli  Serai,  153,  154 

Bahadur  Shah,  capture  by  Hodson 

of,  201 

Bahawal  Khan,  54 
Bareilly,  30 
Barnard,  Sir  Henry,  149,  150,  157, 

158,  161,  162,  166..  167 
Barnes,  Mr.  George  C.,  266,  267 
Basharat,  Ali,  181,  188,  189 
Battye,  Quintin,  156,  157 
Becher,  Colonel,  49,  156,  161,  221, 

236 

Bhagpat,  165,  166 
Bhairowal,  treaty  of,  38 
Bhots,  the,  88 
Birch,  Colonel,  127 
Biyas,  the,  61 
Blackwood's  Magazine  quoted,  120, 

126,  128,  150,  189,  208,  264 
Bohar,  182,  267,  268 
Boileau,  Brigadier,  109 
Bolundshur,  211 
Bori    Afridis,    campaign    against, 

107  et  seq. 


Bowring,  Mr.  Lewin,  72,  99 
Bradshaw,  Colonel,  96 
Broadfoot,  Major,  27 
Burn,  Colonel,  238 
Butler, ,  170 

Calcutta,  16,  97  et  seq. 

Cambridge,  12 

Campbell,  Sir  Colin,  63,  210,  220, 
228  et  seq.,  234,  236,  238,  240, 
244,  245  et  seq.,  256,  257,  260 

Canning,  Lord,  127,  141,  143 

Cave-Browne,  Rev.  J.,  178 

Cawnpore,  172,  179,  239,  245 

Chakar  river,  48 

Chamberlain,  General  Crawford 
1 88 

Chamberlain,  Sir  Neville,  102,  164, 
170,  171,  172,  179,  186,  198 

Champain, ,  160 

Chance,  Mr.  G.,  12 

Chatar  Singh,  s8n.,  60,  69 

Chesney, ,  158 

Chester,  Colonel,  141,  143,  153, 
154 

Chibramau,  231,  232 

Chinab  river,  63,  69,  73 

Clifford,  Dr.,  254 

Cocks,  Alfred,  226 

Coke,  Major,  166 

Congreve,  Colonel,  221 

Cotton,  Bishop,  7 

Cotton,  Sir  Sydney,  130 

Courtenay,  Mr.,  114 

Court  of  inquiry  into  charges 
against  Hodson  appointed,  118; 
delay  in  assembling,  119; 
method  of  collecting  evidence, 
120;  the  inquiry,  121;  papers 
returned  by  the  Judge  Advocate- 
General,  123;  court  reassembles, 
123;  its  report,  123;  Major 
Reynell  Taylor  directed  to 
examine  Hodson's  accounts, 
124;  his  detailed  report  acquit- 
ting Hodson,  125;  further 
public  inquiry  disallowed  by 
authorities,  127  et  seq. 


3OI 


302 


Major  W.  Hodson 


Craigie,  Colonel  Halkett,  C.B.,  121, 

123,  130 

Cureton,    Brigadier-General,   62 
Currie,  Sir  Frederick,    16,   38,  48 

et  seq.,  53.  55.  63,  67,  98 
Curzon,  Colonel,  140 
distance,  Colonel,  216 

Dadri,  215 

Dagshai,  131,  139,  142,  144 

Dalhousie,  Lord,  55,  56,  69,  75,  80, 
92,  94,  95,  105,  108,  113,  114, 
118 

Daly,  Sir  Henry,  156,  161,  165, 
259,  262 

Daniell, ,  170 

De  Brett, ,  170 

Delhi,  17 ;  seized  by  the  mutineers, 
144-149;  plan  for  carrying  the 
city,  158;  the  scheme  breaks 
through,  159;  storming  of  Delhi, 
194  et  seq. ;  Hodson  captures  the 
King,  201  et  seq.;  seizes  and  exe- 
cutes the  princes,  203  et  seq.,  217 

Derby,  Lord,  263 

Dhulip,  Singh,  20,  27;   mother  of, 

Dick,  Sir  R.,  25 
Dillon,  General  M.,  265 
Dinanagar,  46,  48,  56,  63,  71 
Douglas,  Captain,  94 

Edmonstone,  Mr.  G.,  93,  95,  100 
Edwardes,  Sir  Herbert,  36,  46,  51, 

53.  55,  58,  72,  107,  113,  118,  121, 

294 

Eld,  Major,  226 
Elliot,  Sir  Henry,  69 

Fathigarh,  233,  234,  236 
Fathi  Khan,  72,  115,  116 
Ferozepore,  20  ,-»^ 
Firozshah,  21     '• 
Fisher,  Major,  62 
Forbes-Mitchell's  Reminiscences  of 

the  Great  Mutiny  quoted,   230, 

235,  253  et  seq.t  258 
Foster,  Rev.  F.  A.,  10,  28,  38,  40, 

87,  91,  100,  134 

Gangeri,  223 

Genes  te, ,  155 

Gilbert,  Sir  Walter,  22,  25,  30,  32, 

75,  79 
Gilgit,  86 
Godby,  Lieut.,  109,  no,  117,  119, 

121,  124,  126 


Gomm,  Sir  William,  99,  109,  127, 
138 

Gordon-Alexander,  Lieut.-Colonel 
W.,  quotation  from  Recollections 
of  a  Highland  Subaltern  by,  297 
ft  seq. 

Gough,  Lord,  17  et  seq.,  39,  62,  70, 
73,  74  . 

Gough,  Sir  Charles.  182,  185,  249, 
258  et  seq.,  265 

Gough,  Sir  Hugh,  169,  175,  182, 
185,  194,  195,  197,  204,  206,  207, 
211,  217,  229,  234,  237,  239,  241, 
244,  247,  249,  250,  257,  261 

Govindgarh,  60 

Grant,  Sir  Hope,  153,  154,  158, 165, 
168, 174,  195,  196,  197,  199,  200, 
216,  229,  246,  247 

Grant,  Sir  Patrick,  162 

Greathed,  Colonel,  211,  215 

Greathed,  Hervey,  158,  168,  179, 
185,  187,  192,  200 

Greville, ,  153,  170,  198 

Guernsey,  14 

"  Guides,"  the,  43,  44,  51,  52,  56, 
75;  Hodson  in  command,  99  et 
seq. ;  removed  from  command, 
118;  court  of  inquiry,  118  et 
seq.,  130,  149,  156;  Hodson 
takes  temporary  command,  161, 
167,  171,  174,  180 

Gulab  Singh,  27,  35,  36,  58,  59,  87 

Halifax,  Brigadier,  151 

Hardinge,  Lord,  17,  22,  27,  38,  105, 
140 

Harjki,  24 

Haripur,  101 

Harland,  Charles,  239 

Harland,  Rev.  E.,  2,  95 

Havelock,  General,  179,   191,  210 

Hawes, ,  170 

Hela,  69 

Herbert,  Lieutenant,  70 

"  Hodson's  Horse,"  145,  148,  149, 
165,  167,  169,  180,  181,  221  et 
passim 

Hodson,  Rev.G.  H.,Hodson  of  Hod- 
son's  Horse  quoted,  2  et  passim 

Hodson,  William  Stephen  Raikes,  • 
birth  and  parentage,  i;  early 
training,  2;  at  Rugby  School, 
3  et  seq. ;  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, 12  et  seq.;  commission 
in  the  Guernsey  Militia,  14; 
cadet  in  the  East  India  Com- 
pany's service,  14;  Madras  and 


Index 


3°3 


Calcutta,    16;     Agra,    16;     ap- 

charge of  looting  refuted,  217  et 

pointed  to  and  Bengal  Grena- 

seq. ;       accompanies      Seaton's 

diers,   17;    Delhi,  17;    Umbala, 

column  to  Fathigarh,  221  et  seq.  ; 

19;    First  Sikh  war,  iq  et  seq.; 

action  at  Gangeri,  223  et  seq.  ;  at 

exchanges  into  i6th  Grenadiers, 

Patiali,  225  et  seq.  ;  at  Mainpuri, 

24;  Lahore,  26;  exchanges  into 

227;      the    Miran-ke-Serai    ex- 

26th Sepoys,  27;    the  march  to 

pedition,   229  et  seq.;    joins  Sir 

Umbala,  28;    criticisms  on  the 

Colin  Campbell,  234;  fighting  at 

conduct    of   the    war,    29;     his 

Shamsabad,     237;      Cawnpore, 

estimate  of  the  native  army,  31  ; 

239  et  seq.  ;    "  Hodson's  Horse  " 

joins    ist    Bengal    Fusiliers    at 
Sabathu,     32;      beginning     of 

in  action,  241  et  seq.;   Lucknow, 
245  et  seq.;    mortally  wounded, 

friendship    with     Henry    Law- 

252;     the     last     scene,     256; 

rence,    33;     accompanies    Law- 

tributes to  his  memory,  257  et 

rence  to  Kashmir,  35;  secretary 

seq.;   slanderous  attacks,  259  et 

to  Lawrence  Asylum,  40  et  seq.  ; 

seq. 

appointed  to  the  Guides,  44  ;  on 

Hope,  Captain  Adrian,  235 

the    staff    of    the    Resident    at 

Hudson,  Mr.,  223 

Lahore,  44,  49;  after  the  Multan 

Hughes,  Tom,  8,  9 

outbreak,  49  ;    Second  Sikh  war, 

Hutchinson,  General,  251 

58   et  seq.;    Assistant  Commis- 

sioner in  the  Punjab,  76  et  seq.; 

Imam-ud-din,  Shaikh,  35,  36,  149 

a  trip  to  Kashmir,  86  et  seq.  ;  his 

Inglis,  Sir  Robert,  15 

purchase  of  shawls,  90;    Assis- 

Innes's   History     of    the    Bengal 

tant    Commissioner,    Cis-Satlaj 

European  Regiments  quoted,  224 

states,    93;     marriage,    95,    96; 

Iskardo,  86,  89 

in  command  of  the  "  Guides," 

Isri  Singh,  Risaldar,  188 

99  et  seq.  ;   enmity  towards  him, 

114  et  seq.;    the  Khadar  Khan 

J  acob,  Major,  170,  198 

incident,  117  et  seq.;    the  court 

[  alali,  222 

of  inquiry,  118  et  seq.  ;  finding  of 

alandhar  Doab,  27,  61 

the  court,  123;    Major  Reynell 

1  hajar,  Nawab  of,  215 

Taylor's   investigations,    124   el 

]  ohnstone,  Brigadier-  General,  137 

seq.  ;  the  accounts  declared  satis- 

1 owahir  Khan,  226 

factory,     125;      further    public 

inquiry  not  allowed,  127  et  seq.; 

Kalallwala,  63  et  seq. 

return  to  the  ist  Bengal  Fusi- 

Kalsi, 87 

liers,  131;    Colonel  Welchman's 

Kanh  Singh  Rosah,  149 

appeal,   136;    beginning  of  the 

Kargil,  87 

hunting,  143;  assistant  quarter- 

Karnal, 145  et  seq. 

master-general  and  Intelligence 

Karnaud,  216,  217 

Officer   to   Anson's   force,    144; 

Kashmir,  27,  35  et  seq.,  113  et  seq. 

empowered    to    raise    1000    ir- 

Kassur, 25,  44,  46 

regular  horse,  145;    daring  ride 

Keith-  Young,  Colonel,  143,  221 

to  Meerut,   145;    recruiting  for 

Khadar     Khan     imprisoned     by 

"  Hodson's  Horse,"  149  et  seq.; 

Hodson,  117;    acquitted  by  the 

before  Delhi,  150  et  seq.;   assists 

Commissioner,  117,  130,  131 

in  preparing  plan  for  carrying 
Delhi,  158;    routs  the  rebels  at 

Kharkauda,  181,  188 
Khasganj,  225,  226 

Rohtak,   181  et  seq.;    Basharat 

Khuda  Baksh,  117,  217 

Ali  shot,  1  88  el  seq.  ;  storming  of 

Knox,  Captain,  159 

Delhi,  193  et  seq.;   captures  the 

Kussowlie,  92,  94,  99,  144 

King  of  Delhi,  201  et  seq.  ;   seizes 

and  executes   the   three   Shah- 

Ladakh,  87 

zadas,    202   et  seq.;    the  prize- 

Lahore,  19,  26,  38,  45,  49,  50,  58, 

money    calumny,    212    et   seq.; 

60,  71,  78,  79,  93,  131 

with    Brigadier    Showers,    213; 

Lahore  Chronicle  quoted,  151 

3°4 


Lake,  Lieutenant,  58,  74 

Lai  Singh,  27,  38 

Larsauli,  151 

Lawrence  Asylum,  the,  39  et  seq., 

95 
Lawrence,  Captain  Richard,   136, 

191,  195 
Lawrence,  Major  George,  55,  58, 

60 
Lawrence,  Sir  Henry,  24,  27,  33, 

35  et  seq.,  71,  76  et  seq.,  80,  86 

et  seq.,  89,  90,  91,  93,  102,  105, 

138,    152,    177,   210 

Lawrence,  Sir  John,  77,  105,  108, 
113  et  seq.,  118,  122  et  seq.,  258 

Leh,  88 

Light,  Alfred,  153 

Light,  Major,  223 

Littler,  General,  21 

Llamas,  the,  89 

Longa  Mai,  54 

Longfield,  Brigadier,  167 

Lucknow,  210,  240,  245  et  seq. 

Ludiana,  24,  25 

Lugard,  Sir  E.,  241,  246  et  seq. 

Lumsden,  Lieut.,  190 

Lumsden,  Sir  Harry,  43,  51,  70,  74, 
76,  99,  101,  103,  116 

Lushington,  Mr.  Frederick,  97 

Lyell,  Dr.,  104,  121 

Macaulay,  Lord,  121 

M'Dowell,   Lieut.,    166,   167,    169, 

175.  183,  187,  199,  200,  202,  204, 
207,    212,  214,  2l6 

Mackeson,  Colonel,  101,  106,  117, 

210,  228  et  seq.,  237 
Macpherson,  Major,  118,  128 
Mactier,  Dr.,  174,  190 
Madras,  16 
Maharaj  Singh,  52 
Mainpuri,  227 
Malleson,  Colonel, 
Mansfield,  General,  229,  235,  260 
Man  Singh,  Risaldar,  194,  204 
Mardan,  109,  112,  124 
Marri,  106,  in 
Marshall,  Rev.  J.  Knox,  91, 

Maunsell, ,  158 

Meerut,  144,  145 
Michni,  Fort,  130 
Miran-ke-Serai,  229,  232,  236 
Mitford,  Major-General,  117,  130, 

163,  247 
Montgomery,  Sir  Robert,  81,  91, 

126,  131,  141,  149,  205,  256 
Mudki,  20 


Major  W.  Hodson 


Muhammad  Khan,  Sultan,  60 

Mulraj,  49,  50,  54,  59,  72 

Multan,  49  et  seq.,  58,  59,  69,  70,  72 

Mutiny,  the,  143  et  seq.;  outbreak 
at  Meerut,  144;  the  mutineers 
seize  Delhi,  144;  before  Delhi, 
152  et  seq.;  storming  of  Delhi, 
193  et  seq.;  siege  of  Lucknow, 
247  et  seq. 

Najaf  Ali,  125 
Najafgarh,  187 
Napier,  Lord,  46,  91,  102,  122,  126, 

129,  133  et  seq.,   218,  228,   229, 
239,  240,  251,  255  et  seq.,  257, 
258,  265,  266 

Napier,  Sir  Charles,  28,  52,  80,  82, 
92,  105 

Napier,  Sir  William,  14 

Neill,  General,  210 

Nicholson,  Colonel  John,  58,  60, 
69,  113,  121,  164,  179,  180,  181, 
186,  187,  190,  191,  193  et  seq., 
197  et  seq.,  202,  210,  222 

Nihal  Singh,  117,  253,  254,  256 

Norman,  Sir  Henry,  162,  167,  172, 
176,  188,  228,  247 

Outram,  Sir  James,  113,  210,  228, 

241,  243,  248,  266 
Owen, ,  181 

Pakli,  10 1 

Palamau,  235 

Pathankot,  81 

Patiali,  99,  224 

Peel,  Captain,  240,  247 

Peel,  Sir  Lawrence,  16,  98 

Penny,  General,  217,  221. 

Perkins,  Mr.  H.  C.,  261 

Peshawar,  69,  75,   101,   103,   119, 

130,  149 
Philor,  25,  152 
Pir  Panjal  Pass,  37 
Probyn,  Lieut.,  197 

Punjab,  treaty  of  peace,  27; 
treaty  of  Bhairowal,  38;  annexa- 
tion, 75 

Radetsky,  ,  82 

Rai,  152 

Raikes,  Mr.  Charles,  131 

Rajab  Ali,  149,  164,  201,  203 

Ramnagar,  60,  63 

Ram  Singh,  71 

Rangar  Nagal,  61 

Ranjor  Singh,  24 


Index 


305 


Rasul,  72 

Ravi  river,   46,   48,    53,   63,    66, 

7i 

Rawal  Pindi,  75,  99 
Reed,  General,  172,  195 
Reid,  Sir  Charles,  195 
RewSri,  214 
Roberts,    Lord,     166,     170,     206, 

259  «• 

Rohtak,  157,  181  et  seq. 
Rotton,  Rev.  J.  E.,  177 
Rugby  School,  2  et  seq. 
Rupar,  35 

Russell,  Captain,  154 
Russell,  Sir  William,  My  Diary  in 

India  quoted,  248 

Sabathu,  32,  35,  144 
Sabzi  Mandi,  the,  160,  172 

Salkeld,  ,  1 60 

Sanawar,  41 

Sanford,  Captain,  197 

Satlaj,  20,  22,  24,  27,  28,  35,  54, 

95 
Saunders,  Mr.  Charles  B.,  78,  81, 

202 
Seaton,  Sir  Thomas,  150,  157,  158, 

162,  164,  169,  173,  174,  177,  198, 

205,  2o8n,  211,  221,  223  et  seq., 

233,  236,  258 
Seniority  system,  the,  82 
Seton-Karr,  Mr.  W.  S.,  3,  98 
Shahdara,  63 
Shahzadas,  capture  and  execution 

of  the,  202-209 
Shamsabad,  236,  237 


Shamsher  Singh, 
"bebb 

170 


Shebbeare,  of  the 


49,  149 
Guides, 


166,  169, 


Sherer,  Mr.  John  Walter,  5 

Sher  Singh,  59,  69 

Showers,  Brigadier,  169,  173,  180, 
211,  213,  215,  218 

Sikh  War,  the  First,  16  et  seq.; 
Mudki,  20;  Firozshah,  22; 
Aliwal,  24;  Sobraon,  25;  end  of 
the  war,  25;  the  treaty,  27; 
Hodson's  criticisms  of  the  cam- 
paign, 29 

Sikh  War,  the  Second,  58  et  seq.\ 
capture  of  Govindgarh,  60; 
Rangar  Nagal  taken,  62 ;  Kalall- 
wala,  bietseq.;  Baddi-Pind,  66 
et  seq. ;  Multan  surrenders,  69, 
72 ;  Chilianwala,  70 ;  victory  of 
Gujarat,  73;  annexation  of  the 
Punjab,  75 


Simla,  33,  89,  99,  140,  144 

Singh  Man,  58 

Sloggett,  Rev.  C.,  119,  120,  141, 

143,  212,  218,  260,  261,  266  et 

seq. 

Smith,  Professor  Bosworth,  298 
Smith,  Sir  Harry,  24 
Sobraon,  25,  26n.,  30 
Sonpat,  1 86 
Stanley,  Lord,  263 
Stewart,  Sir  Donald,  218,  259  n. 
Sultanpur,  23 
Sumalka,  151 
Suraj  Ghat,  236 

Talbot,  Mr.,  216 

Taylor,  General  Sir  Alexander,  251 

Taylor,   Major   Reynell,   60,    121; 

directed   to  examine   Hodson's 

accounts,     124;      his     detailed 

report,   125  et  seq.,  269  et  seq. 

129,  132,  133,  140,  141 
Tej  Singh,  22,  30,  36,  149 
Temple,  Sir  Richard,  261 
Thana,  35,  36 
Thomason,    General   C.,    13,    146, 

147,  153,  159,  160,  186,  187 
Thomason,  Lieut.-Governor  James, 

17,   31,   78,  89,   92,  93,  98,  99, 

107 

Tibet,  87  et  seq. 
Times  newspaper  quoted,  264 
Tombs,  Captain  F.  C.,  260 
Torquay,  15 
Tulsi  Ram,  214 
Turner,  Lieut.,  101,  115,  n8,  119, 

122,  124 

Umbala,  28,  30,  32,  98,  131,  137, 

139,  144,  145,  218  et  seq. 
Unao,  239,  241 

Vyse,  Mr.,  223 

Walpole,  Brigadier,  232,  236 
Ward,  Captain  George,  166,  183, 

185 

Wardlaw,  Captain,  223 
Watson,  Lieut.,  197,  234 
Wazirabad,  73 
Welchman,  Colonel,  133,  134,  136 

et  seq.,  163,  172 
Wells,  Lieut.,  216 
Wheeler,  Sir  Hugh,  61  et  seq.,  71, 

82,  179 

Wheler,  Colonel,  98 
Whish,  General,  58,  59,  69,  72 


306 


Major  W.  Hodson 


Wilkinson,   Captain  Osborn,    246, 

256 
Wilson,  General  Sir  A.,  145,  148, 

152,  172  et  seq.,  117,  186,  188, 

191,  192,  194,  199,  202,  205,  206, 

208,  212 


Wise,  Lieut.,  166,  183,  185 
Wriford,  Major,  212 

Young,  Colonel  Keith,  143 
Younghusband,  Lieut.,  197 
Yuzafzai,  104  et  seq.,  106,  nf 


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